Cassie's Big Adventure
by J23K
Summary: A wide-eyed, ten year old Cassie Cage and a weekend in the jungle are going to make for the adventure of a lifetime. Right? Adventure Comedy. Minor Cassie x Takeda pairing.
1. Chapter 1 - DROP OFF

**Authors Note :** You're reviews are always appreciated, as are your fantastic movie choices. PM me your movie choices.

 **Disclaimer :** I do not own any of the characters from the Mortal Kombat Franchise, nor do I own the rights. This is only a work of fiction paying homage to the franchise.

 **Warnings :** Some violence references and minor sexual references for this chapter.

 **CH. 1 – DROP OFF**

"Dad, one day I'm gonna kill someone by brutally ripping them in half with my bare hands."

Johnny Cage leaned over the side of the pilot seat, flicking switches and pressing buttons before he turned to look at Cassie, putting his hands on his heart. "Yeah you will, booboo!"

Cassie still wasn't used to the sound of her dad's voice being so loud through the headphones – even after the whole journey. She held onto the abnormal headphones, readjusting them painfully. "I hope they scream."

Johnny Cage said something to the pilot that she didn't really catch.

Was Cassie spoilt for wanting all her dad's attention to be on her at all times? She swung her legs loosely under her seat, gazing out of the window. "Hey Dad, do you think there'll be any cats in the jungle?"

Johnny Cage said something else to the pilot. Something about landing. Then he held the mic dangling from his headphones and talked into it. "I'm sure there'll be one or two, booboo! Which one do you want?"

Oh, which one did she want? She put her finger on her lip and furrowed her brows. It would need to be a cat that reflected Cassie as a person. One that suffused heart, body and mind … one that circumvented human emotion itself … one that transcended the very boundaries of human nature … now how to put that into words?

"I'd want a black and white one! With a stripe! Who ate all my vegetables for me!"

 _Nailed it_.

Johnny Cage chuckled. " _I think that's dogs, booboo_."

Oh, maybe she was thinking of dogs. Maybe that whole garbage about suffusing human nature was actually Cassie really thinking about dogs. It made sense to her really; as the parallels that she drew from the nature of dogs was not all too different from the parallels that she drew from humankind as a whole. Both fulfilled primal and basic desires; however humans had the innate need to one-up each other on the race to a higher level of capitalism that did not necessarily benefit any one individual or the entirety of society as a whole but rather OHMYFUCKINGLORD _was that a snake_?! Cassie pressed her face to the window.

The creature slithered it's way along the jungle ground, smoothly blending in with the greeny jungle floor. It's tongue was a light pink color that looked unhealthy at best.

 _Woii my jesus_ Cassie had never seen a snake before! She'd only just caught that out of the corner of her eye - and any other person would probably call it a superhuman sense of sight, but Cassie never really thought about it as a gift. Now thinking about it though, she had just seen a snake from the sky through a murky helicopter window ... a snake that blended in with the surrounding grass and was barely even moving. So she guessed it had to be a _kind of_ good level of sight.

The helicopter slowly descended to the floor.

Cassie watched the canopy of the jungle get higher from her seat. The world was soo big and Cassie was soo small. She gripped her safety belts, leaning back on her seat.

" _We're about to land, booboo_!" Johnny said to his daughter.

She was already ahead of him, clutching her belts and leaning back. Her legs still loosely swung underneath her seat.

The pilot began to inch the helicopter closer to the floor, slowly guiding it down. They were going slow in the final descent to the floor. The helicopter swayed left and right as the pilot placed it further down. Then, with a tiny _thud_ , the helicopter landed on the floor. The blades of the rotor grinded slower and slower as the moments passed, eventually halting to a stop.

Cassie took off the headphones and placed them around her neck, rubbing her reddish ears. Damn, she was so happy to be rid of that uncomfortable device from her ears once and for all. Then she unbuckled her safety belts, detaching herself from the seat and jumping down onto the floor. It was also pretty sweet to finally be able to touch the floor with her feet again.

Johnny Cage came over and put his hand on her shoulder. "And if you were to find this strange _vegetable eating_ cat, what would you call it, booboo?

Cassie smirked. "Chlamydia, obviously."

Johnny Cage cocked his head. "Is that because you have chlamydia, _booboo?_ "

Cassie lit up. " _No you have chlamydia_!"

"No, you do!"

Cassie chuckled. " _No! You do!_ "

Johnny smirked at his daughter. "Oh, well if you say it, then maybe I do."

Her beam practically touched her ears.

He ruffled her hair. "C'mon, booboo, let's go outside."

Cassie beamed again, leaving her hair the way her dad had ruffled it. Then she picked up her backpack, slotting it over her shoulders, and stepped out after her dad.

The jungle was big. Huge even, with a blinding sun scorching the ground with it's rays.

 _Wooooow._ It was funny to Cassie because the trees blocked out most of the sun, so there were patches on the floor where the sun hit and other patches where the sun couldn't reach. The patches that didn't get any sun also had no grass.

Johnny Cage turned around from the jungle and looked at Cassie. Then he walked over to her, crouching down next to her so his eyes were level with hers, stroking her hair. "How you feelin', booboo?"

Cassie used one hand to clutch her bag, and the other made a circle with her index finger and thumb. "Right as rain."

He placed his hands on her cheeks, holding her smiling face. "What's your mission, baby girl?"

"To protect and serve the people of earthrealm …"

"No, no," Johnny smirked, "I meant the mission for this weekend."

"Oh," Cassie chuckled slightly, "survive the weekend in the jungle!"

" _That's my booboo_!" He hugged her close.

She smiled into his shoulder, hugging him back even tighter. His cologne always smelled so great. It mixed with the tingy scents of the jungle, and both pricked Cassie's nose at once. "I don't really get why I'm doing this though, dad," she said, pulling out from the hug.

Johnny Cage let go of the hug too, looking into her eyes and smiling. "Well booboo – like you - I wanted the same thing. I'd spend days – _days_ – wondering what it'd be like to go live in the jungle for a few days. Maybe I'd be able to eat some melon with some local thieves. Maybe I'd be able to skin a tiger and take pictures. Maybe I'd be able to take flight like a bird … these kind of adventures and then some."

Cassie nodded in acknowledgement.

"And what kind of horrible father would I be," Johnny continued, "if I didn't send my daughter away to go live in the very same jungle I wanted to go to for three days alongside flesh-hungry animals, dangerous thieves and nothing in the way of food and drink?"

Oh, that made so much sense to her! "Wow dad, that's a really great idea!"

Johnny Cage bopped her nose. " _That's my girl!_ Now remember, you can't tell your mom that once again I'm sending you off potentially to your death, because she would probably call me an ' _irresponsible and erratic parent_ ' again."

Wow, mom called dad an irresponsible parent like _allll_ the time. Sometimes mom could be a real killjoy. Cassie put her finger and thumb together on her lips, metaphorically zipping them closed.

Her dad kissed her on the forehead. "I love you _soo_ much, sweetheart."

Cassie threw herself into her dad for another hug. "I love you more, dad."

"Okay, and remember, if anyone tries to hurt you …"

"I should break their spines in front of them whilst they watch, I know. Is there ever gonna be a time when you don't tell me that, dad?"

Johnny Cage half-smiled, once again pecking his daughter on the forehead. Then he jumped back into the helicopter, turning around and blowing kisses at Cassie. "Bye booboo! Don't forget to have lots of fun!"

It was now or never for Cassie. "Wait, dad …"

"Yeah, sugar puff?"

"Do you …" Cassie shuffled her feet whilst she tried to frame her words, "do you have to go?"

Johnny Cage laughed. "It's only for the weekend, baby girl."

Cassie shook her head. "I'm not talking about that."

Johnny Cage stopped, giving her a solemn look, then he walked over to her - patting her on the head and sitting down. "One step at a time, yeah Cass? First you have lots of fun in the jungle. Then we'll think about that."

Cassie nodded, stifling her frown.

"It'll be okay, baby girl. Have faith in your old man."

Cassie nodded. "I do, dad."

"Then _don't forget to have lots of fun, Cassie_!"

" _I will do, dad_!"

"Attagirl!" Johnny smiled, then he jumped back onto the chopper. "Bye booboo!"

Cassie waved really big.

The helicopter started to ascend from the ground, slowly moving up into the sky and taking off with all the grace of a bird.

She watched it for a long, long while after it took off with her hand over her eyes to block out the sun. When she finally couldn't see it anymore she got up, blowing hair out of her face and started walking.

To be honest though, whatever plans her dad had to stay with her mom were just a back-up plan. Cassie's main plan was to bring back something from the jungle. And Cassie had a lot of time to think about that on the helicopter ride over.

She was gonna bring the biggest, strongest thing in the whole jungle. Then she was gonna present it to her mom and dad as a gift to show them how much she wanted them to stay together.

She knew her mom was a total sucker for anything sweet, and what sweeter thing than bringing something back for the jungle as a gift so they sympathised with her and stayed together?

See, it worked on two levels for Cassie. The first was that the strength of the thing she bought back would work as a metaphor for the strength that their relationship should be at; and the second was that the difficulty she went through with getting the gift would show just how much Cassie loved them and wanted them to stay together.

This, in turn, would make them want to stay together.

And this, in turn, would make her mom and dad fall into an elope where her dad was all like ' _I've missed you Sonya, look at my huge muscles'_ and her mom would be all like ' _indeed they are_. _kiss me you beautiful sugarmelon of a man!'_

Wow, how the hell was Cassie such a genius?.

This plan made _total_ sense.

Far to the other side of the jungle, Kano was hugely pissed off.

" _You're not thinkin' about all the variables, Marcus_!" he said, "Maslow … was a fag. He had no idea what he was talking about. His theory of self-actualisation was a load of shit. His children were a load of shit and his family was a load of shit and I spit on his whole bloodline. There's no such thing as self-actualisation." Kano laughed at this. "We're not just gonna work towards our best versions of ourselves, then realise we've actually reached the best versions of ourselves and accept ourselves for what we are. I'm sorry Marcus it's not gonna happen. We're gonna live the rest of our shit-soaked days on this shit-forsaken earth whilst looking for some small and pathetic reason to carry on going every single day."

Kano's prisoner Marcus only looked at him through tear filled eyes. " _Please just let me go."_

Kano sighed, shaking his head. "We live, don't we Marcus? We don't enjoy, we just live. We hold onto things and they make life worth living."

"I have a kid …" the prisoner weeped, holding his cuffed hands out, "his name is Ashley …"

"So if there really were to be some reason to live – _and by the way Ashley's a girl's name_ \- we would clutch onto it with everything we had, would we not? Something we could attach value to. Something that kept our life going. A belief or a goal or a vision. That's what separates the wolves from the sheep, isn't it Marcus?"

" _My goal is my son_."

Kano sighed again, puffing his cheeks and blowing air out his mouth. "Marcus."

" _My name is John._ "

"Marcus, every day I have people tell me about their kids. Or their wives or their dogs or some other such bullshit." Kano shook his head, "And I don't really care for it, Marcus. So I'm gonna kill you now." Kano drew saliva into his mouth, all the while dropping his book and reaching for his machete. "But no hard feelings, yeah?"

The man only sobbed hopelessly into his hands with the strangled cries of _please_ and _no_ , begging at Kano's feet.

Urrgh. What a filthy waste of space this Marcus was. Kano spat on his back, drawing his machete from its holster. "Say words that count, Marcus. They may very well be your last ever."

Far to the East of the jungle, the sounds of rotor blades whipped through the air.

Kano perked up his ears. A helicopter this far away from society? Kano hadn't heard one in fackin' years!

It was grey. Very monotonous with little colour or ambiance. A star was painted onto the side of the helicopter.

What an ugly piece of shit. The first helicopter he'd seen in years and it was an ugly piece of shit. The first vehicle he'd seen in years … _and it was an ugly piece of shit._ What an anti-climax. What a lack of coup-de-grace. But it did beg the question, though, as to why one such helicopter was in the middle of a jungle infested with thieves and predators? He zoomed in on the helicopter with his robot eye, noting the symbol on the right.

 _Special forces …_

Suddenly the helicopter wasn't such an ugly piece of shit. Actually, that special forces logo had made it quite an attractive piece of shit. Must have been around two or three klicks away. He could cover that distance before the crack of night. He licked his lips, grinning widely.

Whatever it had just dropped would be a fantastic haul.

And he was hoping it was a team of special forces agents. It would be a really hilarious slap in the face to send back just the arms of each of them to Sonya Blade. He would wrap them in packages with little love hearts. No no wait, what he could do was send different body parts from each of them to Sonya Blade. Kano chuckled. "Looks like it's your lucky day Marcus. I've got bigger fish to fry." Then he started walking away but turned around very suddenly to look at Marcus, particularly his bolted ankles. "But you can't really go anywhere so I'm just gonna come back when I'm done and kill you."

Then he carried on walking but he turned around again to look at Marcus. "Actually no, I'm gonna hunt you down, rip out your throat and then make you watch while I kill your whole family." Kano's eyes went to the air thoughtfully. "Then I'll probably kill you as well."

Kano's eyes went to the air again, wondering if there was anything else he wanted to say. When he finally couldn't think of anything else he would like to do, he turned away from Marcus and carried on walking.

Then he made his way down the hill and towards the helicopter site, whistling to himself as he did.


	2. Chapter 2 - HUNT

**Authors Note :** Anyone smell toast? Is that toast? Damn I had something for this ...

 **Warnings :** Bad language and violence

 **CH. 2 - HUNT**

The rumbling sound that came from Cassie's stomach would have put a normal person's stomach to shame.

She clutched her stomach, frowning as she did. _Owwie._ She wasn't gonna be able to hunt any present for her mom and dad with a hunger like this.

 _It really hurt._

She hadn't ate since yesterday, and thinking about it now she probably should have taken the food her dad offered her on the plane. But she didn't always feel too great when flying and eating, especially before missions.

Cassie sat down and crossed her legs.

So what could you eat in the jungle?

Sure, there was plenty of fish. But Cassie had never learnt how to fish. She guessed that wouldn't be all too much of a problem because she could just pull them out of the water with her speed, but today her reflexes wouldn't be fast enough without a proper meal in her belly. So what could she eat that was land-based and highly nutritious?

As if on cue, a deer merrily popped his head around the corner, just happily trotting along over the surface of the jungle. Probably thinking something like ' _tralalalala, I'm just a happy deer …'_

Cassie sat dumbstruck for a couple of seconds. Apparently the universe really did listen to the pleas of children in the jungle.

She stood up slowly, starting towards the deer. Being sooo careful as to not make any sound.

A twig snapped under her boot though, and Cassie hadn't really anticipated that.

The deer shot up in place, his eyes frozen on Cassie. His whole body was terse and alert. He was ready to move at even the slightest of signs from Cassie.

Cassie squinted her eyes, licking her lips and getting ready to lunge. ' _I'm going to eat you, Mr. Deer',_ was what Cassie was saying with her eyes.

The deer's eyes were all like ...

 _Fuck that._

Then he bolted in the other direction as fast as he possibly could.

Cassie almost didn't even have time to react. Adrenaline ripped through her, and she bolted forward, starting after the deer. No way _Jose_ was she gonna lose her GODDAMN meal. Her feet were moving quicker than they had in a while. Wind blew through her hair, and the world went out of focus around her as she jumped over logs and between trees. _Where are you going, you hot piece of ass?!_

It was running really fast through the trees, every now and again looking back. Every time it saw her, it sped up ... almost as if to say ' _Get the hell away from me, you crazy blonde bitch!'_

Cassie growled, running between trees and flipping off of small banks as she chased after her supper. _YOU'RE JUST OVERGLORIFIED FOOD! GET YOUR PUNK ASS OVER HERE!_

The deer was still making a bee-line through the trees, running in a straight line sharp and fast. Every now and again, it would bank left or right to get away from Cassie.

She kept hitting trees and shit as she fell over constantly trying to keep up with the deer. She wasn't really used to this terrain … and her situational awareness wasn't as good as it should have been because of her hunger.

She was starting to lose sight of the deer.

The hairs on her arms were on edge, and the breath caught in her throat. She couldn't lose this fricking deer!

But the deer was moving way too fast; and Cassie couldn't really keep up. She began to start slowing down as the hunger made the energy leave her stride.

The deer, on the other hand, was making good ground – leaving so fast that Cassie was starting to lose sight of it between the trees.

She slowed to a stop, falling onto her side as she sucked deep breaths into her lungs.

She stayed there for a long while, breathing loud.

Then she smiled. _That was a lot of fun_. Then she frowned. _But now she was even more hungr_ y. Her vision was starting to get a lil' fuzzy – a combo of not eating and expending too much energy.

Cassie frowned deeper, clutching her hungry stomach.

And still no sign of the deer.

She shivered. Her stomach really hurt.

What could she do though? She couldn't really keep up with the deer - and if she didn't find any food within the next few hours she would probably be too weak to carry on hunting. Then she would probably die cold and alone in the jungle.

Cassie clutched the tree next to her, supporting herself to her feet as she took deeper breaths than she could remember taking since endurance training back when she was six.

The only solution was to catch the deer. But she was going about it all wrong right now. She couldn't just chase it down - _it had the advantage_ _there_. But if she hunted it … like her mom taught her to do … then maybe she could get the jump on it.

She bolted up, taking some dirt from the floor and rubbing it below her eyes.

 _It was time for rage. JOHNNY CAGE RAGE!_

No wait, that wasn't right for this situation.

 _It was time for peace and quiet. SONYA BLADE STYLE!_

God, her mom was so boring.

She took off her backpack, opening it up and taking out a small knife.

It was so shiny.

 _She would use it to rip out the deer's intestines through his ass_.

She readied the knife, looking to the floor.

The ground had been really disturbed by the deer. Grass had been trampled, and small bugs skittered from the dirt the deer had disturbed.

It was CSI time for Cassie Cage, just like her mom taught her to do. She bent down onto one knee, touching the dirt with her finger. Then she stroked her imaginary beard, while murmuring things like ' _Hmm, most intriguing, most intriguing, this dirt is most intriguing_ '. In actuality, it was pretty unremarkable dirt, and Cassie knew this, but GODDAMN she wanted to be a CSI detective soo bad.

She quickly placed some dirt on her finger, before she sucked the dirt from her finger into her mouth, as if to test it. Then she spat it back out. She spat it back out so fast.

Because oh my word it was so _fricking_ gross!

She just saw her mom do it sometimes but it was _soo gross!_

Why did it just taste like nothing?!

She shivered, combing out her tongue. Then she looked back down and started following the trail the deer had left behind.

She must have followed the trail the deer left for at least half a mile. On the way, she really got to soak in all of the jungle around her – and she did this for two reasons; one to ingrain it into her memory (if she didn't first die of hunger) and second to really learn her terrain. It was all well and good running after things, but if all she did was fell over in this jungle, she wasn't gonna last long. She took it all in.

First of all, it was really hot - like all the time - and dense canopies covered the floor so that the shade blocked out a lot of the jungle floor. Having said that though, there wasn't any animals in sight, and for a jungle this big she expected she would have seen at least one so far. The deer was really her only option. On top of all that, the ground was uneven and padded, mounted by slopes and curves and trees of varying shapes. Those trees would sure as shit provide some future stalking. _Future note to self; next time use the trees to rip deer intestines from their ass._

When she finally did come across the deer again, a feeling of relief swept through her.

It was just sitting there, happily eating grass all like _'tralalala, I'm still a happy and alive deer'_.

Little asshole wasn't gonna get away from her this time. She took her time, studying the environment surrounding it, before slowly crept up on it, her movements emphasised and methodical. She was very keenly aware of the jungle surrounding her now. She knew all his escape roots and she was close enough to be able to take him out before he even did get to move.

Then a twig snapped under her boot.

Cassie almost face palmed. Why the hell were there so many twigs in this jungle that always escaped her vision?

The deer bolted upright and turned around, looking at her.

She grinned. _Hello again, Mr. Deer._

His eyes went wide. His breathing quickened. His legs buckled. Then he bolt upright and started running in the opposite direction, as if to say ' _Get the hell away from me, you crazy blonde bitch!'_

But Cassie was faster this time, sticking her knife into the deer's neck and cutting deep. _Shh shh shh, just shut your goddamn lips and die, Mr. Deer._

She held the deer close as it bled out onto her clothes. The eyes of the deer were saying something. Something along the lines of ' _sweet baby jesus, I gone done got killed.'_

It was a good thing she bought a change of clothes cause blood was literally spurting everywhere.

Like literally everywhere. She figured she would need a bath as well. In hindsight, maybe this wasn't the best way to kill a deer.

Seriously, was he actually gonna stop bleeding?

Once the deer was finally dead, she placed it slowly to the floor. Then she kissed it's cheek. Finally, she took a selfie with the deer, and she sent it to her dad with the caption ' _my_ _deer dad #LOLOLOL'._

The reply was almost instantaneous. ' _You get that humour from your dad! #LOLOLOL! #bestdaughterever #cagedrage'_

Cassie smirked, kissing the deer's cheek, then putting away her phone and dragging the deer towards a clear opening.

She still had no idea she was leaving a trail.

 _What a day, what a lovely day_.

Kano marched along the jungle floor, his presence making big imprints into the floor underneath. His machete was behind his neck with both hands. He sniffed, slightly twitching his eye, before he took a glance over his surroundings.

For the most part, the jungle was undisturbed. No sign of any helicopter or people having been here.

He cocked his head. What was really so important that these Special Forces clowns needed to drop off in the middle of the jungle; and what for? He glanced down.

The floor in front of him was covered in small boot prints.

Hurm? What was this? Kano shrugged as he sat down, causing his shoulders to make cracking sounds as he leaned over the footprints. He brushed his fingers along them.

They were small - at least half the size of Kano's.

Kano brushed his beard. So it was a kid. Either that or it was a midget. Didn't explain what one such person would be doing in the jungle. Kano looked ahead.

The footprints went on for a long while ahead.

Who are you, footprint pattern? And why have you come off a special forces helicopter? Kano half-smiled. Puzzles were made to be solved, really, and Kano did love a good mental challenge.

"This is lieutenant Sonya Blade. Report. Over."

The voice rang through Kano's ears. He gritted, spitting onto the floor, then he looked down at the hi-jacked radio around his shoulder. He could listen in on SF gossip without interfering. And it only cost a Special Forces agent both his ears. Good deal, really.

It buzzed and whirred with static.

He chuckled. Alright then Sonya, (unknowingly) shed some light on the situation we have here.

"Yeah, it's Johnny," came another voice from the radio.

Oh, Johnny Cage? Kano held back a growl growled. Was there a bigger moron on this planet than _Johnny fucking Cage_? He shook his head and continued listening.

"I thought I told you to stop ringing me on this line unless it's urgent. Over," Sonya said.

Kano'd heard her say that several times before. So Johnny had too. He truly was a complete moron.

"It is pretty urgent," Johnny said, and Sonya Blade sighed.

Kano did growl now. She always sighed that dirty sigh. She was such a despicable woman.

"What is it? Over," Sonya asked.

"I mighta' lost Cassie."

" _What_?"

"I got no idea where she is, Sonya …"

What? So these footprints on the floor …

The cogs turned in Kano's head quite quickly.

 _These footprints are your daughter's._

Oh this was too much. Kano chuckled again heartily. Johnny Cage, you really are a _stupid fucking_ _moron._

"You lost our daughter?!"

Kano was going red in anticipation. He couldn't keep the smirk off his face. It was almost as if the boot prints seemed to glow to Kano now.

"Baby, I'll get her back," Johnny said, "Don't worry, just give me a couple'a' days."

Don't worry, Johnny, don't worry, Papa Kano's gonna bring her back to you – and he doesn't need a _couple'a' days_. He only needs one. Kano cocked his head again. They were such tiny boot prints – she can't have been more than ten or eleven.

Such small prints …

Did you never teach her to cover her tracks, Johnny? Kano put his machete to one of the bootprints, slowly tracing it with the tip of the blade.

 _I'm coming for you, Little Sonya._

He began to follow the footprints.

He could not _wait_ to find this bitch.


	3. Chapter 3 - TAKEDA

**Authors Note -** Got my first review from Cagebladefangirl and it was _inspiring._ Don't forget to leave your reviews ... or send me blood sacrifices .. y'know whichever is more convenient for you xD

 **Warnings -** Gore in this chapter and some violence threat.

 **CH. 3 - TAKEDA**

The water splashed onto Cassie's face.

It was cool and refreshing, and the contrast between the coolness of her face against the warmth of the jungle against her ears was sharp. She washed her face a couple more times before tending back towards her fire.

The meat of the deer was cooking over a fire.

It could have done with some salt and pepper though. Or you know, just not being _deer meat._ She glanced over the small blaze and her small pan, and the smoke of her fire was slowly making it's way to the sky.

The sun's rays were becoming less and less visible, and the sky had become a shade or two darker than it was twenty minutes ago.

She frowned. Night was falling real quick, and in less than an hour or so it would probably be _pretty frickin' dark._ The deer meat, on the other hand, was roasting really well; the smells of cooked meat making her salivate. She swallowed, her hands still pretty shaky from her pangs of hunger.

A twig snapped behind her.

In reflex, she jumped to her feet and turned around, twisting into a fighting stance. She hadn't sensed anything. How the hell could anything have managed to get the jump on her? Her hands went directly to cover her body and her feet switched up into a kickboxing pose, her sneakers grounding into the floor. If anything did get the jump on her, he or she would need to be so massively trained that far surpassed Cassie's own training.

So she was crazy surprised when she saw a boy standing in front of her.

He was pretty unremarkable. 'Bout the same height as her, dark black hair, and ninja robes that covered his lean body pretty well. Also though, he was covered in blood with a mask over his face, a blade in his right hand, a severed head in his left,

and really uneasy breathing.

Cassie felt the sweat begin to build up on her brow. _Oh my god …_ Her eyes were wide. She was almost about to throw up, and her hands shaking had gotten even worse.

 _Because he must have been standing there for ten minutes and she still hadn't offered him any food!_ "Would you like some deer meat?" she asked.

"Deer meat?" he asked.

Cassie nodded. "Mom always told me sharing is caring."

He looked to his right off into the distance for a long while.

She looked in the direction he was looking, but couldn't see anything. "Strange looking person?" Cassie said again.

"Huh?" the boy said, realising he was being referred to.

"Would you like some deer meat?"

He looked right again – his expression one of puzzlement. "Errrm …"

"Please? It'll taste better if I have someone to share it with."

"Errm," he said and came and sat down next to her – still hesitant and alert. "Alright."

Oh, what a great turnout! At least she wouldn't have to eat alone now. She put some of the deer meat into a makeshift plate and handed it to him.

He placed the severed head gently next to where he was sitting, patting it a couple of times before taking the food. "Thanks."

Cassie said nothing, focusing on grilling the meat to perfection.

"Is your name Cassandra?" he asked.

Cassie gasped, looking into his blood covered face. "Do you do Voodoo?"

"No," he chuckled, blowing blood from his hair. "It's written on your gloves."

Cassie looked down at her gloves, stretching out her hands. _Cassandra_ was printed on the left, and the name _Cage_ on the right. "Oh, yeah that's my name," Cassie said while preparing some more food onto another plate, "but my friend's call me Cassie."

"Oh," he said, eating some of his deer and wiping some spinal fluid from his shirt. "My name's Takeda." Takeda thought for a second. "I don't really have any friends."

Cassie put more food onto her plate, her entire body deep in concentration.

Takeda looked to the severed head, frowning. "I'm part of the Shirai Ryu, now."

This caught her attention. " _Shirai Ryu?_ "

Takeda nodded.

Wait … Cassie remembered her mom saying something about the Shirai Ryu … blah blah blah _extremely dangerous_ blah blah blah _do not approach at any costs_ blah blah blah _Cassie I really mean it don't go anywhere near them_. Wait ... then Cassie remembered something that her dad said about the Shirai Ryu … _hell yeah go see the Shirai Ryu they're awesome people! But if they ever get too feisty don't forget to kick their ass!_ "Nice to meet you, Takeda of the _Shirai Ryu._ " She said offering her hand, "I'm part of the Special Forces. Our mission is to protect and serve the people of Earth realm from the oncoming invasions of the outworld forces."

Takeda shook her hand with his own bloodied one, smiling as he did. "This is really good deer."

Cassie shook her head, flicking the still fresh blood that came from Takeda's hand off of her own. "No, my mom cooks it better. I think I didn't do it right." She took another bite, chomping before looking at Takeda. "Hey, have you ever seen the movie 'Caged Rage'?"

Takeda nodded his head while extracting a bone from his mouth. "Mm … is that the one with Johnny Cage?"

Cassie's whole face lit up. " _Yes! That's my dad!_ "

Takeda made an O shape with his mouth. "Really? Johnny Cage is your dad?"

" _I know!_ " Cassie's face was beaming. "What's your favourite part?"

Takeda thought for a while, sitting back further on the dirt. "I'd have to say … the part where he punches the guy in the nuts and he's all like ' _from the page of Cage!_ '"

Cassie's attention was fully on Takeda now. "That's my favourite part too!"

"It is? What about that part where he punches another guy in the nuts all like ' _Awww, snap!_ '"

"Yeah! That was sweet! Hey, what about that part where he punches a guy in the nuts all like ' _hope someone got a shot of that!'_ "

"Yeah," Takeda chuckled.

There was a short silence between them and both leaned back.

"Hey, your dad punches guys in the crotch a lot," Takeda said.

"Yeah," Cassie said, her brows furrowed.

"Why?"

"I think he has some kind of medical problem."

"Do you think it might be a fetish?" Takeda asked.

"A fetish?"

"Yeah."

"What's a fetish?" Cassie asked.

"I'm not really sure," Takeda started, "but I heard two thieves talking about how they had a fetish for getting strangled. So I figure it's like when somebody likes something really weird that other people don't normally like."

"Oh." Cassie looked to the sky. "Maybe he does have a fetish then."

Takeda looked up at the sky, noticing it getting quite dark. "Cassandra, errm ... thank you for the deer, but I really got to go."

Cassie frowned, the iron smell of the blood from his clothes hitting her nose. "No, _it's Cassie_ to friends."

Takeda went red. "I've never had a friend."

Cassie grinned. "Now you have one."

Takeda smiled sheepishly. "I don't know if that's such a good idea."

"Why not?" Cassie asked.

"Well," Takeda tried to frame his words. "The Shirai Ryu aren't really supposed to make friends with anyone outside of the Shirai Ryu."

Cassie stood next to Takeda, unconsciously mimicking his posture. "Is that what you want?"

Takeda shook his head. "I mean … no. No, it's not. But we're supposed to like … focus on survival over friends."

Cassie nodded again. "And is that what you want?"

"I mean …" Takeda looked flustered, "no, no it's not. I'm …"

"Why don't we meet back here same time tomorrow?" Cassie asked.

Takeda pondered for a long moment. Then he nodded, smiling and wiping some of the human remains from his shoulder. "Okay."

He picked up the severed head and made towards the trees. Then he turned towards Cassie. "Bye Cassie, I'll … I'll see you tomorrow."

"Yeah," Cassie mused, "Oh wait! One other thing. When you come, start a fire, I'll find the fire and come to you."

"I got you, Cassie," he awkwardly pointed at her, " _From the page of Cage._ "

Cassie's beam literally touched her ears as she laughed. What he just said didn't even relate to fires, but it was cool that he was making jokes. She stuck up both thumbs at him.

He thought for another second, before he smiled again and walked away from Cassie.

And almost as soon as she lost sight of him, she started getting real sad.

Her one friend and she totally forgot to ask him what would be worth getting for her parents from the jungle.

She couldn't shake the feeling that there was something very odd about him.

Behind all that spinal fluid, blood, guts, gore and bone that covered his entire body and clothes was something else that Cassie couldn't place.

Cassie got the feeling that he was being followed.

But not by a human.

She frowned again, shaking the feeling off. He was coming back tomorrow, and tomorrow was a long way away. And Friday was nearly over. Two more days and her dad would be here to pick her up.

She laid down, thinking about her dad, narrowly dodging from dropping her head on a turtle.

So what thing could Cassie get for her dad that would make her dad actually say ' _wow'_?

At that almost instantaneous second, a tiger lurked out from behind one of the trees, not having noticed Cassie.

Cassie's heart started beating fast, and Cassie noticed another thing real fast. The jungle was adamant to always answer her questions. She slowly – _ever so slowly –_ stood up on her feet. _This must have been what was following Takeda._

She slightly moved backwards.

Then a twig snapped under her feet.

And Cassie just could not fathom why there were so many twigs in this jungle that would just break at the most inopportune of moments.

The tiger immediately locked eyes with Cassie, the fur of his coat glimmering in the darkening jungle. He had two separate eye colours, and they shimmered against his very clearly angry face. There was also a distinct scar just above his nose.

Cassie almost … _almost …_ froze in spot. Her face and ears went red. Blood pumped hard through her arteries, and she started to move ever so slowly to the right.

Then the tiger roared loudly, starting towards Cassie.

She almost flipped backward as she ran for the nearest tree and athletically climbed to the top.

The tiger sped forward, jumping at the tree but unable to actually reach Cassie.

She sat on the top branch, clutching on tight and breathing deeply.

The tiger roared again, leaping up the tree and trying to eat her.

Be gone from here, demon! Cassie made a cross with her arms. "The power of Christ compels you!"

He roared real loud.

"Fine! He doesn't compel you, GAWD!"

It sniffed, moving around the bottom of the tree.

Y'know, in hindsight, he was real majestic. His fur was perfectly symmetrical. His eyes were so different. Thinking back, if she really was going to get a cat from the jungle, she would get this one. Like an early Christmas present. Actually, it'd make the perfect present to anyone for any occasion.

Wait .. _the perfect present!_

Cassie's idea was so dazzling that she almost fell out of the tree.

The tiger retreated to the bottom of the tree, circling around as he marked the spot with his paws. Then he moved away.

She squinted at the tiger, who was holding his majestic body in a powerful, roving fashion.

Suddenly, she had a fantastic idea as to what to bring him back from the jungle.

 _She was gonna bring her dad a real live tiger_.

It was gonna be _sweet_.


	4. Chapter 4 - TIGER

**Authors Note :** It's your love that keeps me alive, guys. And also Kendrick Lamar.

 **Warnings :** Violence and language.

 **CH. 4 TIGER**

So how did one hunt a tiger?

Cassie figured that even a burly ass five hundred pound black dude like from the movies who only ever answered questions with _yeeee_ or _ma dawg_ or _negro puh-lease_ would struggle with her problem. Because that tiger was _big_ ; fricking huge even. Like easily ten times the size of Cassie. And he could probably kill Cassie with one swipe from his paw.

The jungle was pitch black now.

Cassie squinted, rubbing her eyes. Well … it was official. Cassie couldn't see shit. She frowned, rubbing her nose and making her way forward. Wait, what was that?

There was some shape in front of her, a bulge that stood out against the dark horizon of trees.

Cassie's ears pricked up, her body going on alert and her mind racing. She squinted at it for a good long while. It didn't seem to be moving .. wait no no … _was it_? She couldn't even tell. Aww this was _not cool!_ She shivered and decided that there was a 90% chance that it wasn't the tiger. So she dismissed it, instead moving slowly away from it and keeping her ears open for any strange sounds.

There was no sound coming from any part of the jungle.

Why was the jungle making this task harder than it had to be? She clenched her shoulders, making herself smaller. These heebie-jeebies that this jungle was giving off with it's kabooky shit was not entertaining Cassie! And it obviously didn't help that she was trying to hunt a predator of humans with such little light.

" _Here kitty, kitty, kitty …_ " Cassie said, whistling and clapping her hands. She really couldn't see – only making out weird shapes in the dark. Still, they weren't really sharp enough shapes to be able to get a fix on the tiger's location. She should have ate more carrots when she was younger. If carrots really did help you see better in the dark, she would have munched all the carrots her mom gave her in prep for this day.

An owl hooted behind her.

Her body clenched up, and she jumped around to pinpoint the sound. Almost as soon as she did, she realised what it was. She eased off, slowly – _really slowly_ – relaxing her body. She shook her head, starting to the left. " _Kitty …_ "

Nothing.

Cassie didn't really know what she was expecting though. It's not like the tiger would just come out and be all like ' _you requested my presence, madame?_ ' If anything, he'd come out and be all like ' _RAWR_ ' then feast on her body whilst she watched in horror and the owl hooted a sad melody in remembrance of her valiant efforts to catch a tiger. And then all the rest of the animals would gather around her dead body and bury it with the tombstone ' _here lies Cassie. She should have ate more carrots._ '

Cassie shook the thoughts out of her head. It was better to stay focused on how she was gonna make it out of this.

A bolt of movement spiked to her right.

Her heart spiked, instinctively turning right and putting her hands into a fighting stance.

The movement was the tiger, huge and highly angry. It roared deep and guttural as it spiked towards her.

Cassie almost died on the spot. Before she even knew what she was doing, she twisted around, running for the nearest tree - speeding faster than her little heart could take her.

The tiger was directly behind Cassie, his jaw open and his gigantic teeth about to rip into the back of her throat.

Cassie sped the hell up.

The hot breath of the tiger bounced off the back of her neck.

It was making her lose all coherent thought. She didn't look back; she just climbed the tree in five steps, practically pouncing onto the top branch and holding on for dear life.

The tiger sat at the bottom, watching her movements – it's tail wagging nonchalantly.

Cassie's eyes were tightly closed. Her breathing was loud and slow. Her grip on the branch was _deathly._ _Whhhhhhy?_ Why was he so damn scary?! She couldn't do this! She was gonna give herself some heart attack or something if she kept this up! Oh my lord her heart was beating so fast!

The tiger cocked his head, almost as if he was tutting at Cassie.

Deep breaths, Cassie, deep breaths. Just control your breathing. You're safe up here. She took a glance down as she slowly began to sit up.

The tiger bared his teeth.

Cassie opened her eyes, a thin glean of sweat on her forehead, and watched the tiger stir. "I hope you get rabies and die," she said solemnly.

The tiger flinched his ear.

She relaxed slightly more, recollecting herself with a couple more deep breaths. She needed to find a way to catch it. Maybe she could actually beat it in a hand-to-hand fight. Maybe if she …

He placed two of his gigantic paws on the bark of the tree, so now he was in a standing position.

What the hell was he doing?

He was bouncing off the tree and then placing his paws back onto it again. He did this several times over.

What the fricking hell was he doing? Cassie sat up, watching with all her attention now. She didn't even slightly move; her entire body focused on the beast.

The tiger then climbed the tree, reaching the top in almost the same amount of strides as Cassie.

 _FUCK! FUCK! FUCK!_ She jumped onto the tree opposite her, moving across the branches at a speed that was nothing short of super human.

The beast was quickly finding it's footing on this uneven terrain.

Cassie took a few steps back. "I know you're angry, but I really didn't know you'd be able to climb the …"

The beast roared deep and guttural.

" _Please_ _go away_!"

The tiger lunged into her.

Adrenaline shot through Cassie. She dodged right at the very last second, feeling the tiger's fur on her cheek as it lunged past her.

The tiger flew through the air.

What the hell?! Clearly, he didn't care if they both fell off the tree and died. She quickly stood up on the unsteady branch as smaller animals skittered away from the fight.

The tiger almost fell off the tree, his large weight crashing off the branch. He quickly clutched on with his upper body however – his legs dangling off the side as he climbed back up.

"Okay, listen tiger, I know you're real hungry an' all – but I have a very particular set of skills … skills I have acquired over a long period …"

The tiger roared real deep.

" _Can we please just talk this out_?!"

The tiger lunged straight into Cassie again.

She instinctively dodged to the right again, throwing all her weight and slamming down on her side hard. Her lip pierced; drawing blood, and her sneakers ground into the branch. This tiger didn't even give half a shit that he could just fall off the side and right down to the floor – where he'd probably really hurt himself.

She stood up quickly, clambering onto the branch on top of her, quickly moving to the opposite branches to make some distance between her and the tiger.

The tiger was still snarling.

Cassie's heart was _fricking_ drumming so hard. Her only choice was to go upwards; and keep going upwards until she could figure out what to do next. She used the branch above her to move upwards.

The tiger lunged – for the third time - directly at Cassie. He swerved left just as Cassie often dodged left.

Cassie couldn't get out of the way quickly enough, moving only half out of the way.

The beast crashed into the side of her.

The force shook the girl to the core, and all the wind left her stomach.

The tiger fell off the tree, unable to keep his footing this time.

Cassie followed suit; falling off the tree, and instinctively grabbing onto another branch.

The tiger crashed down onto the ground, slamming into the floor below.

She clutched her side, trying with all her strength to hold onto the branch.

The pain seared all the way through her abdomen.

She was trying her best to hold on – but it really hurt! It wasn't working! _It wasn't working!_ She accidentally let go, trying to clutch onto the branch.

She tumbled down through all the branches, cartwheeling and flipping as her body hit branches on the way down. She caught one, instinctively holding on with everything she had.

Her body was covered in small cuts now.

Cassie screamed out as her whole side stretched out way more than it should at this type of injury.

The pain seared through her side, as if to remind her it was there.

She instinctively clutched her side, sucking in a sharp breath of pain and holding the branch above her with only one hand. Then – using all her strength from one arm – she began pulling herself onto the top of the branch.

The pain screamed out from her side.

She yelped, stopping and grunting. She took two deep breaths then she climbed even faster.

The pain was unrelenting.

Cassie gritted her teeth as she climbed onto the top of the branch with her whole body. She softened herself into a laying position, still clutching her side.

She slowly lifted up her shirt, wincing at the slowly developing bruise, and massaging the afflicted part of her stomach. Her teeth were chattering, as she checked to make sure nothing was broken.

It was soft and tender – _and sorely, sorely painful_ \- but nothing seemed broken.

She exhaled slowly, putting down her top and leaning even further back; her teeth chattering even more as she curled up into a foetal position. She closed her eyes, slowly taking deep breaths.

She couldn't stay on this tree.

She really wanted to … _Lord knows she wanted to_. She just wanted to go to sleep and forget about tigers and divorce and this jungle. Maybe just a quick nap would help her catch the tiger quicker.

But her brain was too alive. If the tiger was hurt, she would need to make sure to treat it to take it back; and if it wasn't hurt, it might get away. Cassie's breath hitched as her side ached.

So her only option was to get her ass to the bottom of the tree and try to find the beast before it got away or died. She soo badly didn't want to do this. She just wanted to stay up here and take like the longest nap ever. But she really couldn't. She inhaled slowly; the numb pain searing at her lung. Then she sat herself up, looking around.

Looks like she was going to have to try and find the tiger again.

There was still no sign of the tiger anywhere.

She frowned, taking another few deep breaths and holding out against the pain. This catching a tiger shit was so much harder than she thought it would be. She carefully climbed down the tree, watching her side and quickly reaching the bottom. As soon as she was down, she held her hands up in a fighting stance, still trying hard not to strain her injured side. She searched for the tiger with all her senses and hoped that her reflexes would be fast enough to once again dodge the tiger if it did lunge at her.

The spot he should have fallen down onto was tiger-less.

 _No no no!_ Her eyes scanned rapidly around for any movement that could help her find the tiger. He hadn't ran away, he was still close to her. Waiting for her. _Hunting her._

Cassie was close to tears. She hurt so bad everywhere, and she was using every single one of her senses to look for the tiger; almost overloading her brain.

The ground below her was soft to the touch.

It could easily cushion a fall from a high place.

Cassie's head was really pounding now. Like did the tiger know that from the height he was at a lunge like that wouldn't actually hurt him? Wasn't it kind of against an animal's instincts to even think about self-harm? He must have been a real ballsy tiger to jump from that height. And if he didn't know, then why would he try to jump at her from that height when animals are programmed to only be focused on self-preservation? What the hell was going on inside this tiger's head

In the distance, the tiger was hunched over, his eyes closed.

Cassie didn't move an inch from where she was standing. She just took a long while to study the big cat, her eyes not leaving the creature. She sniffed, keeping back the tears as her heart once again started a pounding rhythm in her chest. Her brain was working overtime to try and stop her from going forwards.

Then the tiger keeled over, not being able to keep his balance anymore.

Her breathing hitched in her throat. She couldn't let this tiger die. Not now. Not ever.

He wasn't moving.

She almost fell over as she rushed so fast towards him, completely ignoring the sharp pain in her side.

He was still breathing though.

 _Wait wait wait stop Cassie stop._ She immediately ground to a halt, watching the stealthy creature in front of her.

He was breathing really small breaths.

Her gut was telling her something was wrong. She felt like she was missing something. What was she missing? She looked around, focusing on everything. Trees, floor, rope … wait what, rope?

In front of her were two trees, and attached between the two trees was a rope net trap that was designed to trap larger animals.

Cassie stood pretty much in shock. Even one more step and she would probably have got caught in the trap.

The trigger to the trap was directly in front of her.

Oh my god, wait …

He was playing dead! He was trying to catch her in the trap! The fall didn't kill him, it didn't even hurt him! _Oh my god! Oh my god! Oh my god!_ He was actually sooooo fricking clever! How could a tiger actually be that clever?

Cassie watched the tiger as she tried to make sense of it all. Did he know about the net trap? Did he know she was trying to catch him? Was he trying to trap her in it to make her an easier prey?

The tiger eventually opened his eyes to Cassie's blank face.

"Wow," Cassie said, "you're a real asshole."

The tiger dropped the laying down stance and immediately got to his feet. He roared incredibly loud.

The sound reverberated deep into Cassie's ears.

He started making his way towards Cassie.

So he was faking. Cassie actually hoped with all her heart that she had been completely wrong.

Each step he took made it feel like the jungle was shaking.

With each step, Cassie felt her heart beat even harder. She thought she had a plan, but she wasn't sure if it was gonna work. She clenched her fists.

The tiger was getting closer.

 _What are you frickin' doing, Cassie?! This wouldn't end well! Are you actually going to_ … she plugged her fingers into her ears, saying stuff like ' _lalalalala_ ' to block out her own brain, and began jogging towards the tiger.

The tiger was even closer.

 _Turn back, you idiot! You're never gonna be able to beat that thing! Look at how big he is!_

Then the tiger lunged towards Cassie, his teeth and claws bared.

She jumped high up and forwards, using all her strength to get as high as possible, then slamming both feet down onto the tiger's muzzle and onto the trigger. She then flipped backwards before she was caught up in the trap.

The trap was released, wrapping the tiger quickly.

Cassie fell backwards as she landed, really screwing up the whole backflip landing. She yelped as she fell down, clutching her leg. Her eyes immediately went to the tiger again as soon as she caught rational thoughts that weren't just searing pain.

He was caught, struggling and pawing at the ropes around him – _and growling so much –_ but he could not get out of the trap.

Cassie still waited a while before she was fully convinced he couldn't get out.

And it took some real convincing. He struggled a lot, roaring and pawing at Cassie, trapped in a net he did not want to be in.

Cassie couldn't help but watch it, mesmerised by his sheer strength and anger. She stood up, limping towards him.

Everything about him was incredible to Cassie; his different coloured eyes, the scar on top of his nose, hell he even had a cool ass. She smiled through her pain-ridden eyes.

He stopped struggling and snarled at her.

"Okay," Cassie said, "okay, you wait there … I'm going to …"

He struggled again and sliced through the trap with his claws.

She jumped backwards, her heart once again going to her throat. " _No!_ "

The tiger bolted in the opposite direction to Cassie, dashing with all the speed of a lightning bolt away from her.

Why won't you just give up?! She began chasing him; fully aware that he was clever enough to be leading her into another trap but not really caring at this point.

Paw after paw, he was moving fast and with purpose.

Cassie quickly started climbing trees on her way forward.

He was getting some distance, but she was getting higher.

Then she used all her weight to come crashing down onto him and clutching onto his neck.

She slammed into the tiger, ramming the beast's face into the dirt.

Cassie clutched on with everything she had.

The tiger rolled over twice, throwing itself about to get Cassie off of him.

She held on despite the pain, the rolling making her skin cut and bruise.

Then with one final throw, the tiger managed to throw Cassie off itself.

She was chucked into a tree, coughing and spurting, as she slammed down hard again.

The tiger was moving away from her now, instead running for the hills.

 _You're not getting away from me, Kitty …_

Cassie held onto her shoulder as she got up from the floor, rubbing herself off and stumbling forward.

 _Kittttyyyy … cough cough … who's got you on the run?_

A gunshot resonated around the jungle.

Cassie almost froze in place, her eyes shooting to the light of the gun then back to where Cassie last saw the tiger. Somebody better not have killed her tiger. She worked way too damn hard for that shit!

She started a run forwards until she was totally cut off.

A gang of men made a formation around her, each holding some assortment of knives, guns and other weapons.

Cassie's brows furrowed, darting to each of the faces in the group. They were all middle-aged, with combat experience. And scary masks. These men did this a lot.

One of the men walked over to Cassie, tutting as he came. "Lost, little girl?"

The tiger was gonna make some real ground if Cassie didn't get onto him soon. The further he got, the harder it would be to track him.

But she couldn't catch the tiger until she dealt with these guys.

Shit.

 _Shit!_


	5. Chapter 5 - THIEVES

**Authors Note :** You mean to tell me everything's gon' be fine if I call yo' hotline and pay $29.99?!

 **Warnings :** Violence and bad language. Just expect violence and bad language for every chapter, okay?

 **CH. 5 - THIEVES**

The thief sat down in front of her.

She clenched her fists. He was _really_ big. Like he must have eaten cars or something before he took to robbing people in the jungle. She had heard about thieves like this from her dad; guys who were exiled from countries to live the rest of their lives in the jungle – without bail or trial – for only the most heinous of crimes .

"Girl, I won't lie to you. These guys – they just wanna rip you apart and take everything you have. Do you want them to do that?"

Cassie said nothing.

"Why don't you try to help me convince them not to by telling me what you know?"

Cassie said nothing, her gaze going to the mountain line to search for the tiger.

The thief was deeply looking into her eyes. "You a mute or something?"

Cassie looked back at him. "No."

He nodded, pausing for a long while. "Well why don't you tell me first why you look like you've just wrestled with an alligator and then we'll talk."

Oh, she must have looked _bad._ Pain clamped in her solar plexus, and she was bruised and tattered - her lip bleeding slightly. She shook her head. "Was a tiger," she mumbled.

The man's face was dead serious, before he burst out laughing – a wheezy laugh – where he put his tongue between his teeth. "You fought with a _tiger_?"

Cassie nodded. "Was really scary."

He placed the knife to her cheek and held it there briskly. "Credit where credit is due, kiddo, I never seen no-one make jokes when I talk to 'em."

The slight pain of the knife stung Cassie's cheek, but she stood straight, her gaze firmly fixed on the mountain line. Cassie had a good feeling that the tiger would retreat up there.

The man's face went dead serious again. "Where's the rest of your camp?"

Cassie said nothing, her gaze scanning the mountain line.

His knife cut slightly deeper into Cassie's cheek. "I won't ask again."

Cassie winced, but said nothing.

"What's the matter? Cat got ya' tongue?" he asked.

"Yes," she paused then added, "but like a really big cat."

The man laughed again. "Girl, you are something else. Ain't she something else, boys?"

The men wooted and hollered.

"Okay, okay, I'll humour you …" the man started again, "you fought with the tiger?"

Cassie nodded. "He was really clever. He could predict what I was going to do before I did it."

The man cocked his head, looking to his men for reassurance before he looked back to Cassie. "What did he look like?"

"He had two separate eye colours."

The man snarled, looking at the other men. "Go check the traps," he said, then he turned to Cassie, "girl you might have an overactive imagination, but don't play games with me over _my_ tiger. If you have Clyde …"

Cassie's eyes genuinely went to his. "Clyde?"

"Yes, _Clyde,_ and I'll be the one to catch that tiger …"

"Who's Clyde?" she asked.

" _The tiger_."

"You know it?"

"Yes, we know Clyde – we been huntin' that bastard for close to two months now, he's the top dog in this jungle and I don't think some girl ..."

"Top cat," Cassie corrected.

" _What_?"

"He's the top cat."

" _Stop pissing me off_."

"Does he have a scar on his face? Like above his nose?"

The man's face dropped. " _Girl, this knife has got your name on it._ "

"It does? Where?"

"No, you …"

"How would you even know my name to write it on the knife?" Cassie gasped, "do you practice voodoo?"

"Voodoo?"

"Do you do Voodoo?"

" _Do I do Voodoo_?"

"Who does Voodoo here?" Cassie asked the group.

" _Yes._ "

Cassie looked puzzled. "Wait, what?"

The man grabbed Cassie by the scruff of her collar, lifting her off the floor and placing the knife at her throat. "Yes he has a scar. _Now where's the rest of your camp?!_ "

Oh my god, Cassie so badly wanted to bop his nose. "I don't have any friends here."

"Naa, I don't buy it. Great as your poker face might be."

"Why is he called Clyde?"

" _I don't fucking know!_ " the man said, rather annoyed, "now I'm not sure what you're saying about this whole _fighting Clyde_ shit, but I will tell you this. You're testing my patience, _girl._ And it is _wearing_ thin."

Cassie's eyes went to the floor thoughtfully for a moment, then back to his eyes. "Where does he live?"

" _What the hell is wrong with you, girl?! Don'tchu understand that I will kill you?_ "

Cassie thought for a moment. Where would she live if she was a tiger? "If I was the king of this jungle, I'd live in the open. I'd probably be proud, wanting to boast what I've got. I'd want to show everyone my power." She put her finger on her lip.

"What the f …"

"Where is the biggest openest place in this jungle?"

"Alright girl, that's it!" He chucked her against the floor below.

Cassie crashed into the floor.

"Find her camp," he continued, "I'll keep her here until you do. Search everywhere for that fucking camp, Bishop. Leave no stone un- _fucking_ -turned."

"You want us to tie her up?" the man referred to as Bishop said.

Cassie was already standing up, brushing herself off.

"No, I don't want you to tie her up Bishop she's like _five_. Do what I told you _and find the goddamn camp_!"

The men nodded, before moving off.

And Cassie was still no closer to finding the tiger. She was really wasting time with these guys.

The man stood over her and looked into her eyes. "We're gonna wait here, and you're not gonna be no more fucking trouble, will you?"

Cassie smiled, shaking her head. "No sir."

ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

"Girl," the man said from the other side of the fire, "you want some beans?"

Cassie looked at his tin of baked beans. "No, thank you," she said, before looking back at the mountain line.

The man sat in stunned silence. Then he burst out laughing. "You ain't no normal kid, are ya?" he said around a mouth of baked beans.

Cassie said nothing, keeping her eyes on the mountain line.

"You a special kid or something?" he asked.

"Special?" she asked.

"Like y'know … _special …_ " And to emphasise his point he crossed his eyes.

Cassie snickered at this, but she tried not to, and shook her head. "No, I'm not special."

He smiled too. "Well, are you different?"

"Different?"

"You know like blurrrgh different …" and to emphasise his point he put down the beans and scrunched up his body and face into awkward poses.

Cassie laughed now. "No I'm not different!"

He smiled even more. "You're not different?! Well are you socially handicapped? Like do you talk to people like unggggghhhh …cuth I geth some waffles?"

She laughed again, her whole face warming up. "No! I'm not socially handicapped!"

"You're not socially handicapped? Well that's just the darnedest thing I heard all day! But you must be mentally imbalanced? Like does your brain work really weird?"

She laughed even harder. " _No_! Wait actually …" Cassie thought about this one, her face becoming deathly serious, "I mean, my mom sometimes says I am. And sometimes my pussy of a doctor says it. But then she kills people like every day so she can't really talk."

The man slowly chewed what little beans he had left in his mouth. "Oh."

"So maybe I'm the last one – but not the others."

"Oh," the man said again. Then he didn't talk for a long while. Finally, he said "you said you didn't have no family here?"

Cassie shook her head. "Nope."

"Why you here then?"

"I'm going to bring Clyde back as a gift for my dad."

The man's face was slightly pale. "For some reason, I don't really think you're joking anymore, girl."

 _Come out kitty_ …

"So why Clyde?" he asked.

Cassie didn't miss a beat. "He's the king of this jungle. I want to bring him back 'cause he's the king of this jungle."

"And what will that achieve?" he asked.

"I'll be able to save my parent's relationship," she said.

He scratched his head. "How does that work?"

"They won't be able to resist it."

"Yeah," he chuckled, "you got that fuckin' right, it's a _tiger!_ "

Cassie said nothing.

"I err … I had a niece once," he said.

"You did?" Cassie asked.

"Yeah, yeah I did."

"Why are you telling me this?"

"Well, she was like you, I guess. You kinda remind me a lot of her."

"I do?"

The man smiled, "Yeah. You're really unique. She was kind of the same as …"

 _THERE!_

 _TIGER!_

She just got a glimpse of Clyde on the enbankment.

She took the man's knife from his belt, ramming it into his own throat.

His eyes went wide as he held onto it. Blood oozed out, and he choked in horror. He made strangled gargling sounds as his face was completely in shock.

"Sorry, but got to go," Cassie said before zooming off in the other direction.

She bolted towards the mountain cliff. _I got you now, Kitty_!

The leader of the crew keeled over, clutching the knife in his throat as he swiped at the air in front of him and his eyes rolled back into his head.

Kitty was Cassie's!

The rest of the crew quickly came back, screaming and yelling in alarm.

Cassie ignored them, attaching herself to the mountain bank like a cat, then climbing up with speed and precision.

Gunshots rang out around her.

A bolt of raw adrenaline pumped through Cassie. She moved even more deftly, using each stone on the mountain to climb up as if she had done this climb thousands of times before.

The crew were yelling obscenities and shouting in disbelief that none of the bullets were actually hitting her.

She still ignored them, her attention engrossed almost completely on the tiger. She reached the top.

They fought underneath her as to how they were going to get her.

And in that time, she had got over the top and was making a break for where she last saw the tiger.

There was blood on the jungle soil. It made a crimson criss-cross pattern that had dripped all over the zigzagged all over the floor underneath her – a stark alert that the tiger was hurt.

Panic swept through Cassie. All coherent thought fled from her brain. She sped up, gritting her teeth and launching her feet on every step. _Please don't be dead, please don't be dead, please don't be dead._

The blood trail stretched as far as she could see.

The panic level raised even higher. He was losing way too much blood! She was really holding out – hoping with every single ounce of her being that he wouldn't die. But if he kept losing blood, he may very well die. And she wouldn't even know what to do about it. Her panic was turning into a frenzy.

The blood trail went inside a rocky shelter.

She didn't even think, just running straight into the cavern.

The beast was laying down on his side on the dusty floor; his breathing slow and erratic. His eyes were half-closed, and his body was stretched out like a rug over the floor. He looked Cassie in the eyes, his separate coloured eyes so unlike her own.

Cassie's heart leapt to her throat. Oh no! No no no no no no no. She fell onto her knees, touching behind his ear. " _No no, please Clyde, please don't_ _die_ …"

His eyes were closed, his breathing still hitched and uneven.

The pain that enveloped her heart was replaced by a seething anger. NO GODDAMNIT! _Why?! Why!_ She boosted onto her feet, crashing her fist over and over again into the wall of the cavern, each making an imprint of her fist. _No! No no! Why?!_ She crashed her foot into the wall, this time straining the wall with her force.

The tiger grumbled behind her.

She went on like this for ten or so minutes, ramming into the wall with everything she had, and when she finally couldn't do it anymore she collapsed into a sad state. Like a deep sadness. Like a sadness that went deep into her soul. She broke down into tears almost without warning, sitting next to the tiger and weeping quietly.

Shit, what had she done? All she had to do was protect it and …

She closed her eyes, pressing back against the cavern wall, trying as hard as possible to sink into it.

ooooooooooooooooooooooo

A long time had passed.

Now she just sat on the side of the cave, trying to think through her options. She couldn't sit here feeling sorry about herself forever, she had to do something about this.

He needed medical attention – that was for definite. But there was also a gang of _pricks_ hunting him. So did she go for the medicine first or the gang?

The tiger's breath hitched for a quick second again.

She sat down next to him, putting her hand behind his ear and stroking him slowly. "You'll be okay, Kitty …"

Clyde slowly closed his eyes, his breathing slowing even further.

" _You'll be ok, I'll protect you …_ "

Cassie stood up, looking over to Clyde. She would have to go after them first. There was a chance that they also had (or at least knew how to get) medical supplies. That way she could kill two birds with one stone; takin' them all out as well as getting supplies to fix him up.

The tiger still looked at Cassie, his breathing slow and erratic.

The thieves were really good at what they did though – it wasn't gonna be _at all_ easy. Each had to be trained like a small army. And all of them had been outcast to the jungle because they weren't accepted into any country anymore.

She clenched her fists, leaving the cave.

This was gonna be real _hard_.


	6. Chapter 6 - KANO

**Authors Note : Special shoutouts to Westcoast WitchDoctor, KLD Kitkat and CageBladeFanGirl. CageBladeFanGirl, can you make an account - or marry me? Whichever one is more convenient for you xD**

 **Don't forget to leave your reviews if you're enjoying the story. They will only take you at most a minute or so but writers remember them for daays afterwards.**

 **Also I played around with this chapter (I must have edited it like 300 times but still am not happy with it) in either making it a totally serious chapter or totally comedic. It turns out I veered towards comedic. Hope you enjoy anyways :):)**

 **Warnings : Violence ... Bad Language ... You know the drill.**

 **Chapter 6 : KANO**

Okay, so the plan was simple. Just kill all the remaining thieves except for one, who could then take her to the medical supplies she needed and by extension save Clyde's life. Actually, it probably wouldn't be as simple as that anymore. Cassie had been stalking these thugs for a while, and even after around four hours of searching they still hadn't broken their formation. She guessed she could wait some more and see if anything changed but she had already waited long enough and Clyde was still in a critical condition.

Day had broken around an hour or so ago – seeping light all through the trees.

Cassie shook off sleep – her tired body melting into the branch. She'd been in the jungle for slightly more than a full day and still hadn't even had a wink of sleep. And it was really getting to her now. She lay front-down on top of the tree branch, prickling her nose at the heedy smell of leaves and old wood whilst she planned out exactly how she would take out these thieves.

But now that she thought about it – her body jaggedly balanced on the uneven tree bark - it probably wasn't such a great idea to engage four highly dangerous and real angry thief killers who were hunting her. In fact, this came pretty much as number one on Cassie's list of ' _things to not fucking do ever in your life'._ Number two on the list was to miss ten phone calls from her mom and number three on the list was to become a fan of Justin Bieber.

A thief made his way into the clearing below Cassie – his large frame crunching through the twigs and jungle around him. He was looking up at the trees – the sun gleaming off his spectacles.

Cassie tensed up - ducking her head and laying even more flat. Could he sense her presence? Her eyes quickly scanned out a plan with the trees. She would need to use her surroundings if she hoped to take them all out like this.

The rest of the thieves also made their way into the clearing; standing next to the first man.

In a line like that, they looked _menacing_. That was the only word Cassie could think of to describe them – _menacing._ They looked really _menacing._ It was actually a really fun word to say …

There was also another man on the floor, one dressed fully in a blue ninja suit. He stood straight and firm, and didn't have the same scruffy apparel as the rest of the men.

She squinted at this blue dressed man. He didn't look like the others. If anything, he looked even more dangerous than all the others. But _dayummm_ that icy blue colour was sexy as all hell. Once Cassie got back to America, she would definitely put some of her pocket money aside to invest in some kind of blue ninja suit. It was the little things in life that made Cassie happy.

"You sensing her, Bishop?" one of the men with spectacles said, looking up.

Unease swelled once again in her stomach, and she ducked her head even further.

The first man known as Bishop nodded. "She's here. Knight, Rook, go that way and King and me will go this way."

She wouldn't be seen on this branch – not unless they had eyes like an eagle.

"How can you tell she's here?" the thief known as Rook asked.

"Well, she showed she was quick and intelligent," Bishop started, "but she's also a hunter and a killer. I figure she probably wants to keep an eye on us more than we want to find her. If anything actually, I think she's listening to this conversation right now."

Cassie tensed up. Oh, those were some keen powers of perception …

"You gonna help, Lin Kuei man?" Bishop asked.

"I care not what happens about this girl," the man dressed in blue said, "my mission is only the _boy._ "

Wait, boy? Cassie wondered if he was talking about Takeda.

"Suit yourself," Bishop said, starting a walk forwards.

Time to get to work. But before she revealed herself she needed a catchphrase. Could she say ' _how now, brown cow?_ ' No, that was too childish. " _From the page of Cage?_ " Nah, that was something her dad said. " _Who's next?_ " She guessed she could say who's next.

The men slowly began to separate from one another.

This was Cassie's moment. She stood to her feet and jumped onto the branch below her, revealing herself. "How now, brown cow?" she said with some triumph. That is until she realised she had just said the wrong catchphrase.

All the thieves looked up to her.

NO! That wasn't what she wanted to say! But at the last second she forgot what she wanted to say. _DAMN she screwed that up so bad._

They were all pretty dumbstruck by her actions.

Was this whole hunting them from the trees a crazy plan? Sure. Was it guaranteed to work? No, not really. But Cassie had been hunting them all night, and even still they weren't splitting up. So she was just going to have to take her chances.

There was complete silence below her.

Cassie frowned. This was really awkward. Cassie wanted to say something – _anything_ – to break the silence, but she didn't want to be that girl who said something when obviously things were too awkward to do that.

"She's an amateur," one of the thieves said. "An amateur killed Queen."

She frowned. She didn't think she was an amateur.

Bishop looked to the others. "Catch her if she comes down. I'm going up there."

Cassie ground her sneakers into the ground, readying herself for the battle to come.

Bishop attached himself to the tree, climbing slowly, whilst Knight stood at the bottom to try to catch her if she jumped and King went to cut her off if she tried to run everywhere else.

 _Woi,_ these guys were good. Cassie would need to use the element of surprise to her advantage _._ These guys far outmatched her in skill – but they still underestimated her abilities.

Bishop was making good progress, climbing the tree with both speed and a tactfulness that made him seem even more menacing than he looked.

Adrenaline pumped through Cassie but her breathing was controlled. Maybe she couldn't handle a tiger but four thieves in a jungle should be a _breeze._ She looked down the tree. Any efforts to jump would probably break her leg, and Knight was waiting for her at the bottom, who would just be able to scoop up her broken body and probably break it some more to make sure she didn't run anywhere else.

Bishop's hand made contact with the branch she was on, and he climbed up onto it.

She stepped back a little.

"Where you gonna run, you little bitch?"

Cassie tried to sound as scared as she could. "Go back down the tree, please."

Bishop looked down the side, grinning menacingly, his spectacles shining the light of the sun off them. "You're gonna go down the tree, bitch. Try not to break any bones on your way down."

Then he grabbed for her shoulder.

Cassie exhaled a breath really fast, going down into a perfect splits and slamming her hand into his crotch. " _From the page of Cage_!"

The scream that he let out had changed pitch from his normal voice. It was so much higher.

Cassie took the moment of stunned silence from all of them to make her next move. She jumped and turned fully in the air, slamming her shin into the side of Bishop's leg right at the knee.

He lost his footing on the branch, and his whole body went sideways into the air. He then came crashing down – his head slamming on the branch as he fell down the tree.

Cassie landed with her back on the branch, the pain travelling straight from her spine up to her throat. That was definitely gonna leave some bruises. But heck, it was so worth it.

Bishop had managed to catch some branch on his way down to break his fall, then landed on the grass below.

 _One down, four to go._

"Get her!" Rook roared at the others, his face red and spit dribbling from his mouth in anger.

She jumped down, using the branches to make a controlled descent down the tree. She stumbled a couple of times but for the most part this whole 'gracefully falling down a tree' thing was going pretty well.

Knight stood firm, his teeth gritted as he held his arms out in anticipation of Cassie.

From the height she was at, Cassie attached herself to the bark of the tree, sliding down and using Knight's head as a jump pad to boost herself over and behind Knight.

He fumbled trying to catch Cassie, but he was way too slow to match her speed.

She used her knife on her way down to cut through Knight's leg, ripping the muscle apart and then bolting in the opposite direction.

The scream that echoed from behind her symbolised that her work on Knight was done. He'd probably never walk again. Sorry fate for him, but he did kind of deserve it. Rook was next. She lunged at Rook.

Almost as soon as she did, King tackled her from the side, slamming her down to the floor. Rook was making his way towards her too.

Shit, Cassie had fucked up. This was starting to go off plan now. She moved to get up as quickly as possible.

Almost as soon as she did, King sent his foot into her chest, sending her barrelling backwards.

 _Shit!_ This was starting to get _bad._ She quickly recovered, getting up again and trying to steady herself from the barrage of attacks that were coming at her from in front.

Rook was now also on her, roaring as he slammed his head into her own.

She hobbled from the force, slightly rocking as lights went in front of her eyes. They faded just as quickly as they came, but _fuck_ that hurt!

And just with enough time to see Rook's fist connect with her jaw, throwing her to the left.

She flew through the air, slamming down onto the ground and getting up as quickly as possible. The fresh taste of blood filled her mouth – a murky combination of the taste of iron and calcium.

Rook had a machete in his hand now and King came in from the left.

She dodged left, evading King, then she ducked under a quick machete chop that nearly took her head off. What? This wasn't fair! They were using weapons against a child?

Another machete chop aimed at her chest.

She dove backwards, but it still managed to slit her chest, lightly ripping the skin as it swooshed past her. The pain from the cut was a light tingle that slightly throbbed with heat as she looked over to Rook again. She needed time. They were too much together, but alone she would have a much better chance against them. She dodged another machete shot, now diving backwards and reaching for a stone. Then she chucked it into Rook's face.

It pelted into his face and he yelled in pain, clutching his face and turning around as King came in again, yelling.

Cassie took his hand, breaking his arm and throwing him over her body. She'd learnt that from her years of MMA, and he wasn't expecting that shit – she bet.

Rook had only just turned around and almost as soon as he did …

 _POW!_

Dropkick from Cassie to Rook's face.

He dropped backwards limply, slamming down to the ground completely out cold.

Then Cassie ran over to King and knocked him out with a knee to the throat. She fumbled around looking at all of the team, checking to see if any were still awake, her eyes flickering as she tried to stay on her feet.

As soon as she was pretty sure that they were all out, she dropped down onto the floor laughing. She coughed as she laughed, and probed at her jaw. It really hurt, and she stretched it out as she held onto her shoulder. Her whole body was in pain. But she had won … she had …

The Lin Kuei man grabbed her by the throat, lifting her off the floor.

Her whole body seized up in fear; grabbing onto his hands as she was lifted off the floor, her legs limply dangling under her. She tried looking into his eyes but the force around her throat was making her eyes water. She'd totally forgot about this asshole!

"A most worthy effort," the man said, "what you just did was not an easy feat. I think you would do very well within the Lin Kuei."

Cassie limply hit at his hands - her whole world going black.

He threw her across the jungle canopy.

Her body pathetically crashed against the floor like some kind of ragdoll. She quickly tried to stand up.

He grabbed onto her throat again before she even knew what was happening and lifted her once more off the floor. "It is a shame that my mission today is not recruitment. You are therefore little more than a nuisance. My regrets to you …"

Cassie tried kicking out at his stomach.

He didn't even flinch.

Fear clawed it's way into Cassie's solar plexus, her hands clutching even tighter as her vision started to fade to black.

Suddenly, his eyes went wide.

And as soon as they did, Cassie dropped to the floor - holding onto her throat – clutching and coughing as she tried to get as much oxygen into her lungs as possible. That was really hard though, every breath was hurting her neck – and she was trying super hard to open up her throat again.

The Lin Kuei man dropped to the floor – his throat slit.

Cassie looked into his eyes, coughing some more and burying her forehead in the dirt in front of her. She squeezed her eyes shut and tried to process what had just happened. She fell to her side in exhaustion and heat, breathing loudly as she looked at the new man that had presented himself.

He sat down in front of her, his arms drooped over his knees and his head cocked. He had a robotic eye and some kind of robot heart.

An immediate fear clutched Cassie's heart. He didn't even look like a normal person. But she involuntarily laid for a while longer, ignoring his presence while she regained some of her composure.

"I'm gonna agree with the blue man," the new man said, twirling his knife, "that was _bloody_ good. I mean I was thinking they'd do a serious number on you before I jumped in. But here you are, alive and well! Did your mom teach you that?"

She shook her head. " _Your mom taught it to me_."

He chuckled, cocking his head again. "Ah, come on now. I don't wanna be your enemy - I wanna be your friend!"

Cassie grunted in pain – unease swelling in the pit of her stomach. Everywhere hurt all at once. "I don't believe you."

"Na, believe me, _believe me_!" he said with a gigantic grin, _"_ my name's Kano." He offered his hand, "what's your name?"

Cassie said nothing, lifting herself off the ground and almost falling over again.

"Rude," Kano said, his grin disappearing, "just like your papa, eh?"

Cassie – even though she tried her hardest not to – fell over again in exhaustion. A thin glean of sweat covered her body and her eyes were heavy-lidded. That choking was almost like the final straw for Cassie's body. He said something about her dad, but she couldn't follow him up on it.

"It's alright, breathe, breathe girl _, breathe,_ " Kano said, taking out a fruit from his back pocket and slicing into it with his knife, "here, have some Kiwi."

Cassie didn't even look at his Kiwi, slowly standing to her feet and looking him in the eye.

He ate some more off the blade of his knife, smiling at Cassie's determination. "You don't want no kiwi?"

He was an Australian. Some kind of Australian robot man. A highly dangerous Australian robot man. "You said something about my dad."

Kano looked into the air for a second as if thinking. Then he cut some more kiwi. "I think I said I hate your dad and you reminding me so much of him makes me want to kill you even more."

Cassie tutted, holding her injured shoulder. The pain was warm and it spread to the muscle in her neck and back. "That's not what you would say to a friend."

Kano grinned again now, looking around at the dispatched crew. "Did you punch that guy in the balls?"

Cassie nodded.

"He's crying. You made a _grown man cry._ " He chuckled at this.

"You've had military experience," she said, " _lots of it._ Who are you?"

"Oh," he said, eating some more kiwi from his blade, "that's very perceptive. What say we play a little game and I'll tell you whatever you want to know."

Cassie's ears perked up. "I don't want to play any games with you." This was a lie. Even in the heat of all the danger, Cassie's ears still perked up at the word ' _game_ '.

"Oh come on, don't be such a killjoy! I wanna test how far your _skill_ really goes."

Cassie felt uneasy – like he knew more than he was letting on. "Who are you? Really?"

"I'll tell you if you win," Kano said.

Cassie thought about this. "I don't want that if I win."

"I'll tell you whatever you want if you win," Kano said.

"I want medical aid if I win," Cassie said.

He looked her up and down. "Well, I suppose you are in pretty bad shape …"

"Not for me."

Kano re-adjusted himself on his feet, looking deeply into her eyes. "Ohh. Then … who?"

Cassie shook her head. "None of your business."

Kano said nothing for a short while. "And what makes you think I can get you medical aid?"

"You're part of the Black Dragon faction," Cassie said.

Kano's face went impassive and blank. "That's maybe too perceptive for your own good."

Cassie pointed at the blade. "It's pretty obvious. The design on the handle of your knife is a stupid dragon. It's classic Black Dragon."

"Ah," Kano grinned, "you've had some special forces training as well."

Cassie stretched her shoulder and looked into Kano's eyes. "So do we have a deal?"

Kano nodded. "Alright, you got yourself a deal. If you win, I'll get you medical aid. I'll have a doctor …"

"No doctors. Just give me a first aid kit, I'll patch him up myself."

"Alright!" Kano said, as if he couldn't hold back his excitement, "And I won't ask any questions about who it's for or what you want to do with it. I'll just give it to you. No charge. But if I win …"

"You won't," Cassie said.

Kano chuckled. "If I win, I'm going to kill you, girl."

Cassie nodded. "You're on."


	7. Chapter 7 - R&R

**Authors Note :** Big news guys. CageBladeFanGirl said she'll think about my marriage proposal. I just wanna thank all you guys; as well as Westcoast Witchdoctor for making it happen, KLD Kitkat for her constant support, Martin Luther King for giving me the courage to propose, Steve Carrell for just being genuinely funny, the blue powerpuff girl who's name escapes me because I … OH BUBBLES. It was Bubbles. I want to thank her too. And I also want to thank Archimedes, the entire Watchmen comic, the entire cast of Mortal Kombat, the little wooden forks you get at the chippies, pencil sharpeners annnnd … I think that's everyone :)

Naa, but in all seriousness CageBladeFanGirl has been there since the start. And I'm genuinely contemplating writing a full on CageBlade fanfic for her. But thank you all for your love and support with this story, it really means a lot to me.

Also for all you guys who've been wanting to see more Cassie and Takeda – here it is.

 **CHAPTER 7 : R &R**

Sweat beaded off Kano's brow, and he scratched his beard. "And what do you want me to do while you're gone? Take a nap?"

Cassie didn't really care what he did. It had been around twelve or thirteen hours since the girl had last seen Clyde, and so her most immediate goal was to stabilise the tiger before he got any worse. Kano's game could wait for an hour whilst she got Takeda to help Clyde. The boy _must_ have been taught something about herbal medicines and healing if he was part of the Shirai Ryu. "You don't have to take a nap if you don't want to, I'm only asking for _one hour_."

"And why – pray tell – would I give you an hour?"

Cassie shrugged. "Because deep down you're actually a good person who donates to charity as well as does other good actions that help the world in a good way and the cold demeanour you have is actually a front because you don't want people to see the softer side of you because it would crazy hurt your street cred?"

Kano sat with his mouth agape for a few seconds. Then he reached for his machete.

A bolt of fear ran through the young girl – and her hands came up in surrender. " _Okay fine_! Then do it because otherwise you'll just be playing by yourself. Because … I'll sit here and strop. And I'm sure you won't get any fun killing me … while I sit here and strop."

"No, I don't accept that," Kano said.

"What do you mean, you _don't accept that -_ you have to accept that."

"No I don't accept that either."

"You have to accept that too!"

"No I don't accept …"

"I need to go see a friend," she interrupted, "I need to go see a friend and after that … I'll play your game. It's just _one hour."_

Kano grumbled, slapping a mosquito on the back of his neck. "Hold on, hold on girl, hold on - how do I know you aren't just gonna try and run away?"

Cassie shook her head. "There's nowhere to go in this whole jungle where you can't find me. You tracked me this far – I'm sure you could track me to the ends of the Earth if you wanted."

Kano's eyes went to the floor in thought. "Hmm."

"Please?" Cassie said.

Kano's eyes bolted to her own, then back to the floor.

Her shoulders tensed, her hands going into her sleeves of her jumper, her teeth gnawing on her bottom lip.

"Alright," he said.

 _Oh yes!_ She smiled widely, bumping her fist in the air.

"But you get _twenty_ _minutes_."

Cassie's heart leapt to her throat, her smile immediately dropping. "Wha – twenty minutes?! I can't do anything in …"

" _That's all I'm giving you, girl_!" Kano smirked, "and after that I expect you to get your arse back here so I can kill you."

Her hands clutched together in front of him. "Please, just give me thirty minutes at least …"

"You get twenty minutes."

"Give me twenty five minutes at least …"

" _You get twenty minutes_."

"Give me twenty two minutes at …"

"You get twenty …"

" _Fine!_ " Cassie raged, her hands going back to her sides, "God, you suck at negotiating."

Kano's face had no expression. "You're twenty minutes just started at this very second."

"Wait – wha …"

"Nineteen minutes."

Cassie's jaw dropped. "That wasn't even a second!"

" _Fine_ ," Kano said, "then you still have twenty minutes _MY GOD_ could you be any slower?"

She fumed, her teeth gritting and her hands clenching.

"Clock is ticking, girl."

"Okay, one second …"

Kano watched her carefully.

She threw her backpack onto the floor, unstrapping it and rummaging through for her watch. It was old. One of her dad's old watches. He'd had some of the notches removed to fit her wrist. She treasured it with her life, and she bolted it around her wrist and looked at the time. "Twenty minutes," Cassie said, "let's do it."

"Go," Kano said dryly.

Adrenaline surged through her, and she nodded; pivoting on her foot and dashing back towards Takeda.

The terrain ahead was mostly an open clearing, with very few trees but still enough to block out the sun.

Good, with this terrain, she should be able to get to Takeda soon. She worked it out in her head. The journey to where she last met Takeda wouldn't be the hard part. The hard part would be getting back to Clyde's cave – and that was much farther out. She literally had _no_ time to waste – twenty minutes was already going to be a HUGE squeeze. She sprinted forwards, her eyes focused and her body fluid.

Her phone began vibrating from her backpack, followed by a jazzy ringtone.

It purred against the small of her back, and she zipped her eyes to her backpack whilst she was running, grabbing onto it without breaking stride. She fumbled around inside it, finally whipping out her phone.

It was her dad.

Every muscle in the young girl's body went momentarily tense and her hand tightened around the phone. She didn't have time to answer the phone right now … but she'd never rejected her dad's call before. Not even once in her whole life. _Not ever._ She stopped dead in her tracks; her eyes darting from the path ahead to her phone. She frowned deeply.

It buzzed in her hand.

She couldn't answer it … not now … not yet. She shook her head, frowning even deeper and pressing the disconnect button. " _Sorry dad_ ," she whispered to the phone, " _I'll call you back soon_."

The screen went completely unreadable in the sun.

She shivered, frowning again and brushing the phone with her finger. It was like a cold reminder that she'd just blew off her dad. She shook her head and chucked her cell phone back into her pack, fumbling it closed and throwing the pack back over her shoulders. She then began sprinting forwards, dashing over the uneven jungle terrain.

The smoke from Takeda's fire billowed up ahead in a direct chimney-like chute.

Cassie felt a warmness flood through her. Yes! Yes, he was there! Her eyes darted to her watch.

 _Seventeen minutes left_.

She was making good time. She sprinted towards the fire as quickly as she could.

The crackling of the fire was loud; ripping through the serene jungle air.

She sprinted into the clearing towards it, her eyes scanning around and her body on alert.

Takeda was slumped on one of the trees – his legs dangling off the side and his eyes studying a knife in his hands. He was no longer covered in blood – instead wearing ninja garbs and thin soled shoes.

Cassie's heart lit up at the sight of the young boy, her face brimming into a full-face smile. She bolted forwards, moving faster than she done since the start of the weekend. " _Takeda_!"

Takeda's eyes shot to Cassie, and he shot up in the tree. "Cassie?" He leapt off the tree, deftly landing onto the canvas below. "Hey! Cassie!"

She practically crashed into him, squeezing him with everything she had. " _I'm so glad you're here_!"

Takeda's cheeks went red – his hands loose fists at his side. "You are?"

Cassie nodded into his chest. "You smell good now. Before all I could smell was blood but now you smell good."

"Gee," Takeda chuckled, "thanks, Cassie …"

"Like Pine," Cassie said, "and cherry. And cinnamon. And m&m's."

Takeda chuckled. "m&m's?"

Cassie nodded, her face still smiling and letting go of the hug. "You smell really good now."

Takeda scratched at his head, his cheeks thoroughly red. "Err … you smell … I mean … you look good too. Even if a bit scratched up."

The young girl's heart rose to her throat and her eyes widened as she immediately remembered why she was scratched up. She snapped her eyes to her watch.

 _Fifteen minutes left._

She grabbed his hand and tugged at it. "We need to go now. Follow me as quickly as you can we have _literally_ no time."

Takeda was dragged along, chugging forwards and tripping as he broke into a sprint. "Cassie, what …"

" _No time!_ " Cassie said, "we have to go now!"

He took the initiative, nodding and dashing alongside Cassie.

Another surge of adrenaline broke through the young girl – her face going over to Takeda's own. She began sprinting even faster – boosting ahead and in front of him.

Takeda smirked, immediately grasping onto a tree. He climbed his way to the top, bouncing up the tree with all the grace of a squirrel.

Cassie's eyes followed Takeda up the tree. What the hell was he doing?

Then he started sprinting across the trees, looking back at her to check if she was watching.

A warmness flooded through Cassie. Oh, that show off! She chuckled, following suit and bouncing off the trees until she too was running through the branches alongside Takeda. " _You think you're the only one who can run through trees_?!"

Takeda grinned again, flipping over a branch and gaining quite a bit of distance in front of Cassie. " _I'm the only one who can do_ _that_!"

Cassie's smile grew right across her face, leaping off the tree even further than Takeda and landing on a branch far ahead.

Clyde's cave was on the left.

Cassie's eyes darted to the cave, snapping out of her trance and shifting her whole body towards the cave. " _Takeda_!" she shouted, " _this way!_ "

Takeda nodded, his face going deadly serious, and launched himself onto the floor - rolling into a run again.

Cassie did the same, pouncing from the tree and rolling onto the floor without breaking momentum then speeding into a dash towards her destination.

The cave was just up ahead.

She had maybe ten … maybe eleven minutes left. She sprinted dead-ahead towards the entrance of the cave, bursting in and running up to Clyde.

He was exactly where she had left him; his gigantic paws stretched out from underneath him and his eyes half-lidded. His ear twitched at Cassie's presence.

Fear seized up Cassie. She stopped dead in front of the big cat, her eyes glaring deeply into his. Her body slumped down next to him, her hand going behind his ear.

Clyde hadn't even tried to moved, his breathing still hitched and uneven.

Cassie shook her head in disdain, hugging the big tiger with her whole body.

The tiger whimpered in protest.

" _You're so cool, Clyde_ ," she whispered, massaging behind his ear, " _one cool cat._ "

Takeda stopped behind her, his eyes shooting to the big cat that basically took up the floor of the small alcove. "Wh - is that Clyde?"

Cassie nodded, jumping up onto her feet and swerving to meet Takeda's eyes. "He's hurt," she frowned, "I couldn't save him … I … can you fix him?"

Takeda sat down next to the big cat, studying his whole body whilst stroking behind his ear. "I should be able to but it's bad Cassie."

Cassie tensed up, her eyes going to the bullet wound. "Like how bad? Like … is he gonna make it?"

Takeda placed his ear to the big cat's heart. Then he shook his head. "His heartbeat's really faint."

Cassie's hairs stood on the back of her neck. " _Can you help him, Takeda_?"

Takeda still had his ear pressed against the tiger's heart. "Err ..."

Cassie tensed up, her back going against the wall. She slid down, going into a crouching position as she looked at Clyde's crazy two-coloured eyes. She frowned, her eyes beginning to water again. " _Please fix him, Takeda._ "

Takeda's eyes shot to her own again, and he stood up and jerked over to Cassie. "No no Cassie don't ... I'll fix him. Don't worry, I'll take the bullet out."

Cassie sniffed. "You will?"

Takeda nodded, looking back to the bullet wound. "Do you have a medical pack?"

Cassie clenched up. "No but I can get one. Why? Do you need it?"

Takeda nodded again, smoothly massaging around the bullet wound. "I'm gonna need it to get the bullet out."

Cassie nodded. "Okay … okay …"

Takeda turned back to her. "Don't worry, Cassie. We're gonna fix him. We're gonna make sure he gets through this and fights another day."

Cassie nodded, smiling and bolting up to her feet. "Okay … okay I'll go and get the medipack _._ Just … okay … I'll go get them now."

Takeda nodded, looking into her eyes. "Stay safe, Cassie."

Before she left though, she squatted onto her feet; eventually falling onto her ass as she took a few deep breaths and closed her eyes.

Takeda looked at her. "Are you okay?"

She nodded. "I'm okay – I'm just … wow it's been a long day."

He came over and sat next to her. "Me too."

Her eyes darted to the watch.

 _Seven minutes left._

She figured she could probably make it back to Kano in four minutes or so – so she decided she was just going to relax in the three minutes that she had. She took some deep breaths. "I just need to rest for like … the next three minutes."

Takeda shifted. "Hey errm … Cassie, you look real stressed. Do you mind if I … errm … do you mind if I try something?"

Cassie looked into his eyes, nodding. "What are you gonna try?"

Takeda came behind her, his hands going onto her shoulders. "Here, let me errm …"

She tried looking back at him without moving too much.

He squeezed his hands into her shoulders.

All at once, an incredible feeling of ease warmed it's way into her shoulders, slowly spreading across her entire body. _OHHHHHMYGOD_ that felt fucking wonderful. He must have lightly pressed on her pressure points or something because her body just seemed to release all the tension that it was holding. She melted into his hands, relaxing and closing her eyes – a smile growing on her face. "Wow."

Takeda chuckled, continuing his massaging into her shoulders, his fingers going deep into her shoulder blades and the sides of her neck.

Every second that he did it made Cassie melt even further into the floor, her thoughts deeply lost as her eyes were heavily closed. Her hands squeezed into the floor as he worked. "Damn Takeda … you're really good at this …"

Takeda released her all too quickly.

Cassie tightened, her eyes shooting open. The removing of his hands came all too quickly and all at once. She frowned, looking at her watch.

He had stopped because there was only four minutes left.

She sprang up; her entire body refreshed and ready to go again. She stretched out her arms, her legs shoulder width apart. "Takeda, I don't think you finished but fuck I feel amazing! How did you do that?"

Takeda shrugged. "Well, we use it recover between missions when we don't have time to sleep."

Cassie nodded – now exuberant and ready. "You Shirai Ryu guys sure know how to _massage._ "

Takeda nodded. "I guess we're good for at least one thing that's not _murder_."

Cassie nodded, stretching her neck and shooting him one last glance. "I'll be back soon, Takeda."

Takeda stood up too. "Do you want me to come?"

"No, no," Cassie said, "you try your best to stabilise Clyde I don't know how long I'll be."

Takeda nodded. "Alright Cassie, stay safe."

She sprinted out of the cave and dashed back towards Kano's position.

A warm tingly feeling spread through her stomach at the thought of Takeda, and she bolted even faster towards Kano.

 **Authors Note :** Okay now bear in mind that even though there was some physical touching in this chapter, remember that they are kids and nothing more than innocent love is going to happen between them. I just thought you all should know that before I get PM's like "ERRR TAKEDAxCASSIE LEMON".

This chapter initially also included Kano's game but I cut it out because I felt this needed to be it's own thing. But expect the next chapter soon. And even sooner if you leave those golden reviews :)


	8. Chapter 8 - SECRETS

**Author's Note :** Seriously if somebody's making toast I want some right now ... Damn, I _swear_ I had something for this ...

 **CHAPTER 8 - SECRETS**

Kano sat beside all the incapacitated thieves where Cassie had initially left him.

Cassie stretched her shoulders, walking towards him.

When he saw Cassie, his eyes shot to the girl's own. "You're two minutes late, girl."

She strode down the hill – but she stopped when she looked at Kano.

There was something different about him.

She couldn't quite put her finger on it, but she could sense difference coming from everywhere. Her eyes went up and around as she tried to find the source. _Something_ had changed.

"What's up now?" Kano said.

Her eyes scanned around as she took the whole space in. "You weren't here the whole time."

Kano's eyes widened for less than a second before he got them under control. "And what makes you say that?"

Cassie's eyes darted left and right – her mind absorbing all the information. "You have a new kiwi that you didn't have before. I don't think you got that from anywhere around here."

Kano looked to his kiwi, then back to Cassie. "I couldn't have just had another one in my pocket?"

She shook her head. "There's a slim layer of dirt on your jeans too. You were climbing and running as well."

Kano looked down, trying to study his trousers for even a slight bit of dirt. "I can't see no dirt."

"And one of the thieves is gone – _Bishop_ \- which means he ran away whilst you weren't watching him."

Kano's eyes shot to the empty space. "What, that's the conclusion you're gonna jump to? That I wasn't here? Why can't I just have just let him go?"

Cassie shook her head. "Because you're mind doesn't work like that. You kill for fun."

Kano smirked. "Sometimes the fun is in _not_ killing people."

Cassie nodded. "I figured you'd say something like that. But you killed all the other thieves."

Sure enough, surrounding Cassie was no longer the thieves from before but rather their corpses.

"It seems strange that you would kill all the others and not him," Cassie said, "and even if you didn't kill him I figure you would at least torture him. The fact that he's not here means neither of those things happened. And you could easily outrun him if he tried to get away from you. So the only conclusion I can come to is that he got away when you weren't here."

Kano was gobsmacked. "You're very perceptive, girl."

Cassie said nothing.

"Alright, yeah, I took a walk. I needed some more kiwi."

Cassie grit her teeth. If he was following her and Takeda, she would have noticed. So he definitely wasn't doing that. But did he really just go for kiwi? He was a twisted psychopath so it did make sense that he would ditch everything just to go get some kiwi.

He ate some more kiwi from his knife, then pointed his knife at Cassie. "Enough about me though. Where did _you_ go just now?"

Cassie sat on the log opposite Kano. "What's the game?"

"Naa, naa …" Kano pointed his knife accusingly at Cassie. "This whole questioning shit works both ways. I know you're hiding something from me, love."

Cassie tensed her fists.

"Something valuable to you … I wonder …"

"What's the game?"

Kano shrugged. "To be fucked, I don't really care what it is."

"Good. Then let's play."

He smirked. "Changed my mind again, I really do care. What are you hiding from me, Cass?"

Cassie shuddered for a moment. Only her mom and dad called her 'Cass'. It wasn't his right to get to call her that. "I'm not hiding anything from you."

"C'mon now Cass …"

"Stop calling me that."

Kano smirked again.

Shit. Mistake. Total mistake. She shouldn't have let him know that annoyed her. She mentally slapped herself again. She needed to regain control of this conversation.

"What ya hidin' from me, Cass? C'mon, tell your good ol' uncle Kano."

" _Fuck you._ "

Kano's face dropped. "Girl, I'm thinking of just saying bollocks to the game and putting you on a Vicodin cycle."

"A Vicodin cycle?"

Kano tutted. "It's where I take this knife and ram it into your leg. Then I cut downwards, severing your entire ligament."

Cassie's eyes widened.

"In doing so," he continued, "I stop you from walking ever again but even better, you got a constant pain that follows you around. It never stops and it never fades."

Cassie clenched her fists, her teeth gritting.

"In response, you take a drug called Vicodin for the rest of your life. Which has side-effects that include driving away your family and friends with your own drug-addled behaviour and being constantly depressed."

Cassie swallowed hard. "Okay, well … do you know what a Cage Blade is?"

" _A Cage Blade?_ "

Cassie nodded.

Kano smirked, saying nothing.

She rolled her shoulders. "It happens just before a Vicodin cycle. It's where I take your knife from you and shove it up your ass."

Kano did nothing for a long while, just staring at her eyes. He was no longer smiling.

Cassie's heart beat hard in her chest – slow but hard – and her brain was on high alert. Her hands shook whilst being instinctively clenched - her eyes fixed on Kano's own. She wouldn't be intimidated by this creep – not now, not _ever._

The gigantic man burst up from his log, launching for his machete and marching towards Cassie.

Adrenaline ripped through Cassie, her mind solely focusing on Kano as she bolted up and grabbed for the knife in her pack. She readied it just as quickly; jumping up and facing Kano with her blade held sideways in front of her face and her other hand held out in front. Her sneakers switched up to a combat position – her eyes focused on Kano's.

Kano stopped, clenching his machete tightly.

Beads of sweat were streaming down Cassie's face; and her hand shook like mad - her eyes completely focused on Kano's own. She was watching his movements with all the intensity of a deer in headlights.

"You're just too adorable," Kano said, "you think that knife's gonna protect you against my machete?"

Cassie's heart hammered in her chest. "It's worth a shot."

He marched over to her.

Cassie was on full alert, her shoulders tensing as her feet ground into the floor.

He came and stood directly in front of her.

Cassie flinched backwards – her whole body shaking as her eyes were still fixed on him. Fuck, he literally towered over her!

Without any warning, he grabbed the knife from her hand, snatching it away.

Another bolt of adrenaline flood through Cassie, and she jumped up reaching for the blade – her hand grabbing for her knife. Her foot planted into Kano's leg to get some extra height.

His hand jabbed her in the throat.

Pain stabbed at her throat – her eyes watering and her throat going red as she crashed onto the floor, clutching desperately onto her throat whilst she tried to skitter backwards to give herself some room.

He snapped her blade, throwing both pieces away and continuing forwards.

Kano chuckled – a hearty chuckle from his throat.

She was struggling; really trying hard to stand up.

He grabbed her shoulders and stood her up.

She grabbed onto his hands and tried to struggle them off. It didn't seem like he wanted to hurt her anymore.

He sat her down on the log and sat next to her, his arm around her shoulders. "Girl, you're somethin' else."

She breathed hard – trying to undo what felt like an invisible rope around her neck whilst breath slowly entered her throat and she tried to escape his gigantic grip.

"Breathe girl, breathe," he said, clutching her even closer, "I'm sorry for punching you in the throat, it was wrong of me."

Cassie was crying now – not out of fear but the jab had closed up her throat and it was really hard to breathe. His body was sticky from sweat and the heat.

"Sh, sh, sh," Kano said, " _Come on, I'm sorry._ "

Breath was coming slowly now, her eyes tightly closed as she just focused on her breathing. She was so fucking tired.

"Here, girl, I'm genuinely sorry. I lost my temper."

She shivered, her eyes tightly closed whilst he hugged her quivering body to him. "C'mon girl, we can't play the game whilst you … Cassie?"

Her eyes were closed and her body slowly drew breaths.

Kano said nothing, checking the pulse on the side of her neck and then placing her down on the floor and moving to the other side of the clearing. "I guess the horse really does always fall."

ooooooooooo

 _I guess the horse really does always fall._

Cassie awoke slowly; and almost as soon as she did, she wanted to go back to sleep again. She couldn't remember the last time she was so warm and happy and _soft._ But she couldn't forestall it any longer; her eyes opening slowly.

The jungle was around her, and it was still day time.

Her mind was alive now; bolting up into a sitting position and struggling as her throat hurt and her body was raw with exhaustion and pain. She lay back down, slowly breathing and wincing her eyes. Every breath burned her lungs and she groaned sharply. She clutched dirt in her gloved hand, her face pressed into the floor.

She couldn't remember how long she lay there, but she knew that it was enough time to really take a breather and gain her bearings again. She struggled to her legs, slightly shaking as she clutched onto the log to stop herself from falling. _Fuck,_ that hurt. She gritted her teeth, rubbing her throat and squeezing her eyes closed.

She couldn't beat Kano; not one on one. He was way too good for that. She would have to work this out some other way. As much as she hated the idea, he still had the medical supplies; and that was the only chance she had to save Clyde. The tiger was still important to her after all; her life didn't seem all that important as saving her mom and dad's marriage.

She shook her head. The only way to get those supplies was to play his game without pissing him off. If she pissed him off, he might not give her the supplies. Her eyes darted around for Kano.

He was sitting next to a tree with his back against it; crushing walnuts with his hands and popping the nuts into his mouth.

Cassie immediately bolted up properly, her breath hitching in her throat and her hands going up as she studied Kano.

"Relax girl," Kano said, still crushing walnuts, "I'm not looking to jab you in the throat again."

Her eyes darted to his machete. It was on the other side of the tree.

"I just want to _talk_ ," he said.

Cassie stood where she was, her eyes fixed on the machete. "Okay then, talk."

Kano nodded, popping another nut in his mouth, "You're body just crashed on you?"

Cassie said nothing.

"That figures. There's only so much the human body can take without sleep," Kano said.

Cassie's eyes studied the floor, her body still in a fighting stance. It was true, she had been pushing herself without sleep for close to 32 hours. "How long was I out?"

Kano shrugged. "An hour or so."

He waited for her for an _hour_ to wake up? "You didn't try to wake me up?"

Kano shrugged again. "I can't kill you when you're running on sleep."

Cassie nodded. "I … thanks … I guess. I needed it."

Kano nodded. "I know."

That wasn't noble of him. He wasn't noble. "But you're still a shitbag," she said - walking towards him.

Kano smirked. "You want some walnuts, girl?"

Cassie could actually feel her stomach eating itself. She clutched onto it, looking down at her abdomen.

"Here, catch," Kano said, throwing her a walnut.

She grabbed it in her hand, breaking it with both hands.

It was shiny and brown.

She was salivating, her blood-stained hand shakingly picking it up and popping it in her mouth.

It crunched in her mouth.

The nutty taste burst in her mouth, and her eyes tightly closed, chewing quickly on the only food she'd had since the deer. And it was _fucking_ wonderful. She knew she'd love walnuts for the rest of her life from here on out.

"'Here, have some more," Kano said, throwing her a few more walnuts.

She grabbed them eagerly in her hands, leaping for each one and breaking them in her hands. Then she ate them all together, closing her eyes tightly as the taste swooshed around in her mouth. She breathed hard through a full mouth, breaking the nuts loudly with her teeth and smiling.

"Good walnuts, eh?"

She swallowed, opening her eyes and looking at Kano, her smile dropping. "This doesn't change anything."

Kano nodded. "I know."

"You're still an asshole."

Kano smirked. "Fair enough."

"And you suck."

Kano nodded. "Look if it helps at all girl, I'm genuinely sorry. That jab to the throat was wrong of me and I shouldn't have done it."

Cassie sat opposite him, her eyes looking into his. "Why did you do it then?"

Kano smirked. "You're just fearless, aren't you Cass?"

"What does 'the horse always falls' mean?"

Kano's eyes widened. "Where'd you hear that?"

"You said it before I passed out."

"It's errm ... a story," he said.

"Tell me it."

Kano said nothing.

Cassie waited.

Kano tutted. "It's a stupid story. It's just about a horse rider who can control time. One day, he gets robbed in the middle of a sandy road. They – thieves, I mean - they stab him up and just as he's about to die; he uses his time travelling ability to go back. But every time he gets back to that point, he can't escape the thieves and he ends up dying at exactly the same place. He can't stop it and he can't change it, even after trying a hundred times to change his fate. The thieves always find him and they always kill him."

Cassie ears were fixed on his words. "What's the moral?"

Kano smirked. "You can't change your fate, girl. If you're destined to crash and fall to sleep, you're gonna crash and fall to sleep."

Cassie thought about this. "Do you believe in fate?"

Kano shook his head. "Someone close to me once did."

"Who?"

Kano tutted. "That's not really important, is it girl?"

Cassie frowned, her eyes looking deeply into Kano's. "Who used to believe it?"

"No more questions, girl. Do you want to play the game – yes or no?"

Cassie frowned again. "Please? Who used to believe it?"

Kano growled. "How about one question each?"

Cassie frowned. "Okay."

"You want medical supplies for your tiger, yeah?"

Cassie's heart almost stopped. The pins and needles of a sudden jolt of shock spread through her body quickly, then dissipated just as quickly as they came. Her hands clenched tightly and her teeth gritted. All thoughts of who was close to Kano disappeared from her head.

"Oh," Kano smirked, having regained control of the conversation, "have I struck a nerve?"

 _How could he have known that_?! She hadn't give it away with anything she said. Shit! She clenched her fists. "Do you do Voodoo?"

Kano chuckled, exhaling a huge breath and pointing his knife at her again. "The tiny hairs of a predator that cover your clothes were a dead giveaway that you've been hugging some kind of big animal – hell some of the animal hairs are even in _your hair_. Add to that the unmistakable aroma of a predator that you were close to now that you weren't to back when I first met you - and some good ol', educated guesswork."

Cassie looked down. "Shit."

"You're not the only one who's perceptive, girl."

Cassie said nothing.

"You still wanna play?"

Cassie was looking down.

"Girl?"

"Hold on, I'm still getting my head around how you worked that out."

Kano snickered. "Don't worry too much. Let's play."

Cassie looked into his eyes – his scary-ass robot eyes – and nodded.

"Here's the game," he said, "you get a ten minute head start. If you can evade me for ten minutes after that, I'll give you ya' supplies. Most likely for your tiger."

"Shit."

"What's up now, girl?"

"I still can't believe you worked that out."

Kano smirked. "If I catch you though, well I hope you said your goodbyes to your family, love."

Cassie nodded.

"Okay," Kano said, drawing his machete, "On your marks …"

Cassie tensed up, keeping her eye on the time she would start.

"GET SET!"

Her heart hammered in her chest, her eyes fixed on her watch.

"GO!"

 **Authors Note :** :):):)

Don't forget to review for them speedy updates!


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